NPE | Chapter 14
The North Pole Epic
More in this series: Prologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, Ch. 10, Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, Ch. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 17, Ch. 18, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 21, Ch.22, Ch. 23
All around the North Pole
The Guild’s strike began to unfold.
Obstructed businessgoblins
Were baffled by their system’s problems.
As the snow falls
There was a resounding call,
“Level snow
Or high drifts blow,
Let it snow!
Let it snow!
Let it snow!
Join us or you must go!”
The air was thick
With fear and resentment.
Goblins did not know what to do at the present.
Everywhere they went they met with resistance.
Thousands of torches at the trade tunnel entrances.
No one goes. No one comes, or the elves melt the holes and bridges.
Elves on reindeer bared the banks from deposit and withdraw
While others, with some sympathetic trolls surrounded the capital.
Herders, bears and caribou turn away merchants.
Yetis use fear to deter mercenary counter insurgents.
Goblins scramble to their gargantuan homes.
Trolls attempt to form ranks, but it is chaos in the holes.
Businesses were boarded.
Shops were closed.
Troll authorities thwarted.
The goblins’ weak system exposed.
Nic and the team of eight
Swiftly direct and delegate
Shifting resources around in the holds
Sending money down deep in the holes.
They prepare the collateral
For the negotiation at the Capitol.
Elves run back and forth securing assets,
Moving money, notes, and food on pallets.
Elves fill the bank sitting on the floor and counters.
At first causing very awkward encounters
With the goblin bankers and tellers.
Goblins, baffled by the ice hole dwellers,
Try to implement measures of security.
But no troll can get past the guarding yetis.
Goblins panic. Some quietly leave
While others hysterically flee.
Many shout vitriolic threats,
And some become violent.
Goblins beat elves with bare fists.
They tear elf flesh slashing their claws in fits.
Elves attempt to restrain attacking goblins.
They are trained not to retaliate or cause more problems.
“Join us or leave!”
The elves shout with glee.
They chant and sing,
Voices echoing loudly
Throughout the tunnels and vaults,
Out the windows from the halls.
“The shift is coming in days or hours.
Shifting world of changing powers!”
They carry on and on
With chants of encouragement and taunts.
“What will rise from the melting ice?
Is it new life, or cruel demise?”
The sit-in shuts down the bank of course.
Nic wonders about Snihurońka outdoors.
Nic runs operations on the ground
With Nicholas running communications around.
Reindeer and elves fly through tunnels and streets.
Nic and Nicholas get everyone what they need.
It is a massive undertaking.
Both are grateful for Befana’s designating
Runners for each strike location.
She organized a simple system for distance communication.
Befana sends messages from building to building as if by magic.
To the goblins, her methods are confoundingly enigmatic.
To the outskirts she sends secret goblins and trolls
Undercover to guard against being exposed.
Though most goblins are not on their side,
There are those, like Snihurońka, who sympathize
(As well as the occasional troll
Guild members tired of living under goblin control).
So, in all the chaos that has erupted
The plan has gone off uninterrupted.
Goblins running everywhere not knowing what to do.
Elves sitting, marching, helping others as they get abused.
Nic is nervous about what comes next:
A coordinated goblin response to this protest.