The Bloodclaw chieftain, Hogg, came as soon as he received the summons to Plaguewood Town.
But the fact that he had arrived so quickly clearly showed that Hogg had a keen political instinct. He must have set out from Smuggler's Wood while the players were attacking Plaguewood Town, already guessing that Murphy would summon him after the battle.
Clearly, Hogg had no doubt that the player legion would win.
This little gnoll was probably one of the NPCs in all the land who had the most faith in the Otherworldly Warriors.
When Hogg was summoned, he had a long hood pulled up to hide his figure.
But that was just a case of hiding his head in the sand.
Every player recognized him now. Along the way, old acquaintances greeted him warmly, while new players who didn't know him ran up just to say a few nonsensical things, hoping to curry favor with Chief Hogg.
When Hogg entered town, he saw the giant swamp serpent lying amid the ruins, as well as the corpses of the gnoll warlocks and their vile creations being dug out of the battlefield and carried outside town.
Every gnoll from the Plaguewood Clan who had remained in Plaguewood Town was dead. The players hadn't spared a single one!
The warlocks who had been hunting the giant serpent in the swamp had also been wiped out by Ningjinanka's fury. That meant the Black Calamity's vanguard had been utterly defeated, and that control of this swamp had fallen completely into Murphy's hands.
Hogg didn't know what Lord Murphy wanted to discuss with him.
But he guessed that if the God of Fate favored him enough, he would receive a hard-won, generous reward today—something his former self would never have dared dream of.
"Here."
As Hogg entered the