Welcome to Tales from the Table, where once a month we will share one of our favorite encounters from the RPG tabletop. Tales range from hilarious first-hand accounts from the GM to harrowing tales of near escapes from the player’s perspective. To see your own tale shared here, visit our submission guidelines page!

This tale comes from our very own, Daryen O’Dell, from the time that she accidentally made a goblin fall in love with her!

Worg, and his apples.

                                                                                                                 -Daryen O’Dell

Our adventuring party had finally made it to a town after days of travel. The town was known for being run by a gangster and had some pretty shady people running things but it was our rogue’s hometown so we weren’t all that worried. We stopped at a tavern, ordered drinks and food, and relaxed for the first time in days with a roof over our heads.

 

The waiter at this particular establishment was a goblin named Worg. He was a dreary and drab sort, and I (our party’s ranger) felt obliged to cheer him up. We tried our best to chat with him, but after asking him a lot of questions all we could really get out of him was that he liked apples. Remembering a fruit stand we had wandered by on our way to the establishment, I excused myself to go by a couple apples, which I gave to Worg the next time he came by to fill our cups. He looked surprised, but took the apples and continued on with the night – seeming confused if not a bit happier.

 

We decided to do a job for the mob boss in town in order to clear the debt of a young woman we met in the square, and upon successfully completing that task we returned to town and waited to deliver the goods to the mob boss, Big Pete. With nothing to do the whole day I thought of the sad goblin and decided to pay him a visit. I purchased a bag of apples from the fruit stand and stopped by the tavern. Worg wasn’t working but the bartender told me how to get to his house so I stopped by with my delivery! Again, Worg did not seem to know how to react but I felt like I had at least brought him some positivity for the day and was thusly satisfied.

 

Travelling out of town to continue with our quest, our group put the events out of our mind. After a month of adventuring we found ourselves in need of returning to that town, as we got close to the main gate we ran into a companion of ours, a Gnomish man named Toxely, who was running out of the forest towards town. Our joy at the coincidence was quickly dampened by the roar of a hill giant coming from the direction Toxely had been scampering away from. We battled the giant as it approached but couldn’t seem to deter it – until a few well placed arrows flew from a tree above my head, pelting the giant until it seemed to grow irritated and lumbered back into the forest.

 

We turned to the tree, trying to get a look at our savior only to find Worg drop from the branches. Our shock was palpable as we looked at the dreary little goblin and asked him what he was doing out in the woods. “I was waiting for you” he mumbled, pulled a wrinkled apple from his pocket, handed it me, and then turned and made his way towards town.

 

I stood in stuned silence as the goblin retreated back to the main gates, my friends laughing and jesting about the exchange. We had to spend a few days in town taking care of business so we decided to check on our friend Ginny, the woman we helped get out of debt with the mob boss. We walked into the flower shop shop she had found employment at only to find none other than Worg purchasing a boquet of flowers. Upon seeing us the goblin blushed fiercely and ran out the exit a flurry of petals settling behind him as the door slammed. Not sure how to react, we checked in on Ginny and left to attend to our other business – my friends again teasing me for my kindness to the goblin.

 

Finally, as we prepared to leave town yet again, Worg approached our group at the stables. He handed me the now slightly battered boquet of flowers. I stammered a thank you and tried to explain that I was merely trying to befriend the goblin and had no romantic feelings for him. He took it like a champ, though he did point out that I had brought him a great many apples, while my friends stood back, doing their best to hide their laughter at the prediciment I had put myself in. I, on the other hand, glared at my friends and made a mental note to never try to befriend anyone through their favorite fruit ever again.

 

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