After coming face-to-face with the goblin, Astral immediately took a defensive stance. Goblins were notorious for their chaotic behavior back in him dimension. The goblin gave Astral a very peculiar look. It appeared to have never seen a human. Once Astral realized he was in no danger, he lowered his rod and attempted to communicate with the goblin. Unfortunately, neither party could understand any of the other's language. Astral came up with an idea. Astral retrieved the bundle of jungle ganja from his person, and pointed at it. The goblin nodded its head and immediately knew what Astral was trying to say.
The goblin invited Astral to a small camp centered around a fire pit. Other goblins began to appear, and look quizzically at Astral. The first goblin produced an ornate wooden bowl, and packed it tightly with an unknown yellow flower. After lighting the bowl, the goblin took a hit and offered it to Astral. Seeing no harm, and another opportunity to smoke, Astral respectfully took the bowl and shared a couple puffs with the goblin. Astral's arcane cauldron began to bubble and froth. This strain of cannabis was incredibly smooth, and offered more clarity of thought. Letting the mana run through his veins, Astral mustered the energy into a Divination ritual. He closed his eyes and began to meditate on the magic.
Faint runes glowed in the air about Astral, they represented an arcane language that was unknown to this world, but very familiar to him. The library of his mind opened a spell tome of low-level magic. He found the incantation, but it required material components. Astral opened his eyes and allowed his 3rd Eye Meridian to find what he needed. At the campfire was a pinch of soot, and just outside of the camp was a small clay deposit. Astral left the camp with a glazed expression, and scraped some minerals off the clay with his finger nail. He mixed the salty clay with soot from the campfire in his hand and called mana to the mixture. Astral marked his forehead with the salt and soot and spoke the incantation. The hovering glyphs around him ebbed and hummed with energy before fading from sight. Astral could now Comprehend the Languages of goblins. He knew the effect usually only lasted an hour, but he was in no rush to leave. After all, he had found a good source of cannabis, and company to smoke with.
Astral's ears attuned themselves with the help of Divination magic. He approached the first goblin he met and greeted it. The goblin appeared to expect something from Astral.
"U humie try talk 2 me" the goblin said.
Astral was keen on understanding primitive language.
"Me AS-TRAL. Name AS-TRAL." he attempted to communicate.
The goblin's crinkled ears seemed to twitch. "As-tral? Humie?"
Astral took a moment to realize "humie" may be their term for Human, or even an outlander.
"Me humie Astral."
The goblin understood, and began to share this information with the surrounding goblins.
"He Astral, we Rastagabba."
Astral was unsure if all of the goblins were collectively known as Rastagabba, so he endearingly greeted the goblins now that they knew his name.
Until the evening, Astral smoked and talked with the goblins. He learned much about their culture, and even some details about the world. The Rastagabba were a large tribe of goblins who venerated the deity of Marley. They lived peacefully along the Peace Coast, until there was violence, then its name was changed to the Violence Coast. Many of the Rastagabba tribe were lost to an entity known as Dajobasa, a terrible shark-demon. The goblins fled the coast, deep into the Ghurazian Jungles. Astral felt deeply for the plight of Rastagabba, and for Awgo, the tribe's shaman who he'd been smoking with.
"Do Marley protecc u from Dajobasa?" Astral asked, curious if the deity allowed itself to be called upon for Divine magic.
"Marley iz just stone now." Awgo's expression turned to disappointment, then fear. Astral had just reminded Awgo of the Bloodtide.
Awgo continued, "Dajobasa cum for Bloodtide. Eat many Rastagabba. Great sad :(" the shaman's voice trailed off.
Astral took another hit of the yellow weed, the negative vibes from Awgo were starting to kill his chill. He took a moment to circulate the mana around his meridians, taking stock of how much magic he could produce. Astral knew his high would only last for a good 2-3 hours, and this cannabis was only strong enough for lesser-level magic. Maybe it was time for Astral to try out his magic for a greater purpose than just to defend himself.
Awgo silently watched Astral in his meditation. Awgo was a shaman of his people, yes, but he wasn't capable of spellcasting. Astral asked Awgo if he had ever seen magic.
"Me see big spellz wen Marley alive. Marley giv us magik. No more."
Astral realized what he must do to help these goblins. He remembered seeing the statue of Marley back at the jungle temple. That must've been the real Marley, transmuted to stone by way of greater-level magic. Astral was aware that petrification was the only way to trap an immortal mage. If Astral could get some stronger cannabis, he could magically restore Marley, and furthermore destroy the shark-demon Dajobasa. Astral explained this concept to the goblins, who all supported his decision. The Rastagabba were powerless without their deity, and could only wait to be crushed by the next Bloodtide.
Solidifying a vow, Astral promised to help the goblins.
Over the next few months, Astral learned about the Seas of Ch'lan, a large archipelago region southwest of the main continent of Akaldor. The world was quite large, much larger than his previous plane of existence. Ch'lan was divided into clusters of islands either controlled by Pirate Lords or the Monarchy of King's Nobles. The thick politics of naval territory contest were considered far away troubles by the goblins. This new world Astral found himself in began to slowly un-mystify itself. Even though magic is the same here, Astral would still need to study and practice just as if he were back home.
If what he heard about Marley was true, then Marley would be an archdruid who protected the jungle mana grove not far from the settlement. It made sense to Astral why a small tribe of goblins would revere a such a powerful druid. The goblins must have been taught how to spellcraft primal magic, as was the origin of all druidic power. Astral's spellcraft came from arcane, a much more mystical class of magic that had the most versatility of all the classes of magic.
Astral spent much of his time teaching arcane spellcraft to the goblins. Awgo, in particular, far exceeded the capabilities of his tribe. It was no wonder Awgo had been a shaman, Astral saw great potential in his druidism. Every arcane rune that Awgo formed was saturated with primal mana. Astral attempted to teach Awgo the Prestidigitation spell, a staple for all scholar-wizards. Awgo did not fail in learning, and he found his own approach to the magic. Astral could create an illusory flower with arcane magic, but Awgo could cause an actual flower to blossom. He was truly gifted in his connection to primal energy.
Much merriment was had between Astral and the jungle goblins, he learned of their tribe's customs and culture. He was fascinated by the deep spiritual beliefs of the goblins. They believed mana was a type of spirit, a formless entity that would bend to a spellcaster's will. Primal magic was a gift from worldly spirits that must be respected, and the Arcane class of spells was the result of manipulating natural mana through complex rituals. At their core, all primal magic users, druids, an have a connection to the natural world. Astral had only read about this in arcanology books, but witnessing Awgo call upon spirits to cast his spells was a truly educative and eye-opening experience. Astral offered a prayer to the Enlightened One. Astral felt inspired!
During his time with the Rastagabba, Astral had smoked several different types of cannabis. Banana Split, the yellow flower, was his favorite. The high was only good enough for a lesser level magic, but it burned smooth and tasted sweet like banana. The Rastagabba were incredibly talented hemp weavers, and all of their cloth goods had intricate designs that were said to venerate the Rastagabban ancestors who protect the tribe. Fully clothed again, Astral became more comfortable. He now had a satchel and bundle of rope as well. Astral custom-lined the satchel to carry several pre-rolled joints of Banana Split. As he finished rolling his last J in his hut, Awgo entered and brought terrible news to Astral.
The skies darkened, and the wind blew harshly outside. Awgo took Astral by the hand and led him through a narrow jungle path he'd never seen before. It was a small cliff, under which rolled the ocean's waves, and Astral could see the storm approaching:
It was the Bloodtide.