“Sshrow them in!” Scuzz hissed. “It isss their time to become like usss!”
Guff grabbed his captive goblin with three massive hands, using his fourth to shove a bag of foul-smelling food into its grip. The rest of the tribe followed suit, each of them dragging and pushing their captives toward the cave, its dull green glow casting an eerie light from within.
“Ssstay in ssthere until we sshout for you,” Scuzz continued, his voice low and commanding. “If you can sssurvive each other's company until then, when you come out, you’ll be jusssst like ussss!”
The goblins, suitably ‘encouraged’ by spear prods and occasional rocks, stumbled into the cave. Gunki and a few of the others quickly barricaded the entrance with a thick fence, and Guff paused to remember when they had first discovered the cave.
Scuzz’s raiding party had been ambushed by a group of pointy-ears. Desperate to escape, they had stumbled into the glowing cave, hoping for refuge. But once inside, they found there was no way out. As the hours turned into days, with the threat of elvish arrows still hanging over them, something strange began to happen. Parp was the first to notice it—his nose began to grow and wriggle on its own.
Scuzz, with a grimace, sliced the rebellious nose off with his rusty sword, even as it tried to reach for the blade. Parp screamed, but the pain faded as the nose grew back—this time, longer, more twisted, with a prehensile hand on the end.
Days passed, and the changes kept coming. Hunger eventually drove them to leave the cave, and when they emerged, they quickly grew accustomed to their new forms. The same could not be said of their village however, who shunned them and chased them away.
To remedy this, the goblins began raiding their kin. Each captured goblin was thrown into the green cave, emerging changed, and ready to join the cause. Their raids expanded, reaching nearby settlements until they had a small army, all twisted into strange new shapes, often with terrifying powers.
And you should have seen what happened when they trapped a pack of wolves and their riders in the cave…