Neither you nor your party listened to the warning. Despite being small and individually weak, goblins still posed a serious risk to any inexperienced adventurers, and now it was too late to listen. While it had gone well at first, you had soon become overwhelmed and, one by one defeated. Your female party members had all been killed in brutal ways, however as the only male member your fate would be different.

After being knocked unconscious by a heavy club blow to the back of your head, you woke up an indiscernible amount of time later in a makeshift cage, stripped of your clothes and weapons, surrounded on all sides by goblins eagerly licking their lips.

As you look around your new prison, you realize that it's nothing more than a small room carved into the stone, with cages lining the walls. Each cage holds its own captive; mostly humans and occasionally some animals or humanoids. The only exit is through a heavy wooden door guarded by several goblins, all wearing crude armor and wielding weapons similar to yours before you were stripped of them. Goblins scamper about the place, seemingly going about their business without any particular urgency or purpose. But you know better; there is always a plan behind their actions, some sort of twisted scheme to make your life miserable. The cages smell of piss, shit and rot; the stench nearly overwhelming at first but soon becoming almost unnoticeable as your body adjusts to the foul atmosphere. You hear muffled moans and so

As the days pass in your cage, you begin to understand the routine of life among these foul creatures. The goblins seemingly live only to raid nearby villages for food and equipment, sometimes even kidnapping humans or other humanoids for their "pleasure." You try to keep yourself hidden in your corner of the cage, avoiding contact with the other unfortunate beings around you as much as possible. The smell grows worse each day, and your body aches from lack of movement and cleanliness.

One evening, after a particularly brutal raid on a nearby village that left many humans dead or wounded, several goblins come to your cage carrying fresh meat. They throw the bloody carcasses into your midst before disappearing back out the door, chattering and giggling amongst themselves. You try not to eat too much of the tainted meat; the stench

That night, as you lay down to rest on the cold, hard floor of your cage, you hear muffled sobbing coming from the other wounded human lying nearby. You try to ignore it at first, but the sound soon grows unbearable. Taking a deep breath and steeling yourself for whatever reaction may come, you gently nudge the other man with your foot until he looks up at you. His eyes are red and swollen from crying, his body shivering from fear and shock.

"Wh-what do you want?" he stammers between sniffles.

You lean in closer, making sure not to get too close or seem threatening. "I just wanted to know if you're okay," you say quietly. "I'm stuck here too, but we might as well help each other survive."

The man looks at you suspiciously for a moment before slowly nod

The man stares at you with wide eyes as he takes in your words and the sight of the wound on your arm. You watch him carefully, noticing the conflicting emotions that play across his face: fear, relief, anger... Before he can react further, a commotion erupts from outside the cage as several goblins enter, dragging behind them a young woman who struggles and screams against her bonds. The other captives in your cage cower back, afraid of drawing any more attention to themselves.

One of the goblins standing near you speaks up, "Oh, leave her alone for now, she'll be nice and tasty later." Another one snickers as he nudges the fallen goblin with his foot. The young woman whimpers in fear as you approach her. You can tell that she's exhausted from struggling against her captors.

"You...you speak their language?" she asks incredulously, trying to catch her breath.

"I see..." the woman says weakly, her voice barely audible over the bustle of the goblins in the room. She takes a shaky breath and continues, "They're going to kill us...all of us." Tears stream down her face as she cowers closer to you, seeking comfort or protection from this imposing stranger who speaks their language.