The call went out in the markets like the beating of a drum. Goblins clanged pots together, shouting at the top of their lungs, "Gather! Gather in Glowhollow! Overwatch speaks! Overwatch sees!"
Kai ended up having two entrances. One being the big stone doors to the hollow named the challenge gate and the other beside in is a simply archway with a metal shutter that's rarely closed.
Curious villagers streamed down into the caverns. Humans left their stalls, beastkin padded quietly along stone steps, kippers darted ahead with squeaky excitement. Even the Hollow Howl tribe followed, low growls of interest rumbling in their throats.
By the time Kai arrived, a crowd had formed around a wide chamber where the air glowed faint blue.
At its center hung Overwatch.
---
It was no simple wisp or flicker of resonance. Overwatch was vast, stitched together from goblin faith and Glowhollow's veins of power. Its form was part statue, part spirit—stone plates floating in orbit around a core of light. Dozens of eyes, all luminous and unblinking, rolled across its shifting body. Each eye fixed on something different: a goblin child, a human merchant, a wolfkin hunter. No movement went unseen.
Its voice was neither male nor female, but a layered chorus that echoed across the cavern.
"Glowhollow is under mandate. Overwatch watches. Overwatch remembers. Harm none, or harm shall return to you."
A hush fell. The words weren't loud, but they pressed into the skin like weight.
The goblin elder raised his arms. "Overwatch sees all! It is guardian, judge, witness! No thief, no liar, no beast shall pass unseen. Glowhollow shall know law!"
The goblins cheered wildly. Humans exchanged uncertain looks, beastkin tilted their heads in curiosity. Kippers squeaked in awe.
---
Mist rippled across Kai's shoulders.
Velnix unfolded into being, its shape half-cloak, half-shadow. The guardian's form stretched outward, six long arms of fog and bone sliding from the folds like blades hidden in fabric. The cloak shivered around Kai as bones drifted lazily through its mist, white fragments surfacing and sinking back like fish through black water.
Velnix tilted its featureless head toward Overwatch. Its clawed arms flexed, pulling against restraint, and the mist around Kai grew colder. Hunger pressed at the edges of the crowd, invisible to all but him.
Kai lifted a hand, tattoos faintly glowing. His voice was firm. "No."
The guardian froze. Six arms trembled in the dark like arrows waiting to fly. Bones clicked together, then dissolved again into shadow. Reluctantly, the mist drew inward, folding back into the shape of a cloak that settled around Kai's shoulders. The crowd saw only a strange ripple of darkness and paid it little mind.
---
The goblins continued, their voices bright with pride.
"Overwatch does not sleep! Day or night, its eyes see! If your child is lost, Overwatch shows the way. If a thief steals, Overwatch marks them. If monsters crawl from the dark, Overwatch's gaze burns them to ash!"
One of the Hollow Howl wolves barked a challenge. "Then let it test us." He shifted, claws raking stone. "Can Overwatch see a hunter's shadow?"
Overwatch's eyes swiveled in unison. A beam of light lashed out, pinning the werewolf in place. His growl faltered into a yelp as resonance bound his limbs tight like glowing ropes.
"Hunter marked," the spirit intoned. "Release your claws. No harm without cause."
The wolf blinked, stunned, then slowly retracted his claws. The bindings melted away like mist.
The crowd erupted—goblins chanting "Justice! Justice!" while beastkin murmured approval. Humans looked uneasy, but none could deny its authority.
---
Kai stepped forward, raising his voice above the noise. "You see now. With Overwatch, Glowhollow is no longer just a cavern. It is a city with law. Every hand, claw, and paw has rules to follow. No outsider can break us if we stand together under its gaze."
Ferrin, the guild clerk, clutched his ledger to his chest. His face was pale, but his quill scratched furiously. "An entity enforcing law itself… not men, not guards. Do you understand what this means? Nations kill for less."
Kai cut him a sharp look. "Write carefully. This isn't Vorath's."
Ferrin swallowed hard and bent lower to his work.
---
Overwatch's eyes swept the crowd one last time, its body humming with faint resonance. Then it spoke again:
"Nepthuren is seen. Neptyuren is remembered. Act true, and Overwatch blesses. Act false, and Overwatch punishes."
The crowd roared. Goblins leapt onto shoulders, chanting its name. Beastkin raised their arms. Even the Hollow Howl wolves dipped their heads, acknowledging its law.
Daniel leaned close, voice low. "Flow gives you water. Overwatch gives you law. You've built yourself a nation of spirits, Kai."
Kai's jaw tightened. The cloak at his shoulders whispered restlessly, six faint arms folding and unfolding in the mist, bone fragments sliding silently through. His gaze lingered on Overwatch's glow. "Every nation has predators. Ours just happens to be watching."
Glowhollow had given birth to more than a guardian. It had given birth to law.
And law would change everything.
The goblins were withholding overwatch but Kai knew they would have good morality due to unfair traditions towards them.
Kai had much more to think about other than that. Law was good.