Myriad Acts of Banditry! (Rhi)

[Aeytrious]

Rufus had left town on urgent business. He had a boy to save. In the process he'd conquered Cerenis, and made an alliance with the Glint Hawks. He was returning triumphant to a guild filled with turmoil. During his absence Jack had pulled the tail and protection from Owl. The Beta didn't care about the pet project of the Red Wolf. When the news that she's been snatched up by the goblins reached the Wolves, instead of saving her, they took this opportunity to track the goblins to their lair. The Soot Wolves had killed plenty of the little ankle biters, but without knowledge of the hole they lived in, they could never root out the problem. Of course it was just Owls luck that Rufus returned that night. One of the reports he was given told him of the plan to track her, to use her as a beacon to locate the goblins, and hunt them all down for good. According to the report she had been grabbed only an hour past, right when he was riding into town. He was beyond furious that her life was being put at risk, and he'd have to take care of Jack appropriately later. As he was riding out after her, reports began to come in. The Wolves had found the goblins home, they had a good count of the force of goblins, and they were confident that a few wizards could easily burn them all out.

This news did little to appease Rufus, and he punched the messenger in the face. Raining fire down on the goblins would kill them all easily, but it would doom the Lady Einin, and that was not something he could do. His orders were given and the wizards would do just that, rain fire on the goblins, but not until his force of one hundred Soot Wolves had rescued Owl. They would use magic and stealth to sneak in among the goblins. They'd spread out and light small fires, assassinate goblins from the shadows, sow chaos in any way they could. Meanwhile Rufus would take the best five with him to get Einin. With a bit of her blood, they'd use a tracking spell to find the girl, and he'd cut down any man or beast that stood in his way. Then the goblins would be exterminated. Hundreds of goblins would pose no threat to his Wolves. It was time to rid his city of this nuisance and bring back the head of their leader for that bounty.

[DaGlobster]

Why was she asking him about the boys? Smed couldn't really know. All he knew was that this was probably another attempt to stall for her life, again. But, he was a sucker for conversation, so he decided to humor her. "The boys, Pigeon? We're a big 'ol family here, in fact, they're the only family I got. Chef's a founding member, you know. More like a father to me than even my own. All the tribes, too. Good goblins, the lot of them, always helping out when they get a chance. We might have five-hundred boys in here, but out there, there's millions." He explained leaning back in his chair. The goblin with the spiked mace took out an pocket watch (obviously stolen), and squinted his eyes to read the arms.

"Boss, night shift's starting." He said, tapping on the watch. "Spread the world, Gnak, and get my usual guards here. Tell Chef it's one of his guard duty days as well." He snapped, and the goblin nodded, jogging out of the tent. Once it was outside, it screeched "SHIFT ONE!" And it reverberated around the enclosed cavern for a few moments before the sounds of every single goblin in the camp moving around filled the air. Half of them were getting set to patrol around In groups of five, the other half were free to do whatever they wanted, so some extra goblins went on patrol, since they had nothing better to do.

Chef himself lumbered out of the butcher's tent, clad in a suit of massive plate armor, with his various butcher's implements as weapons. He lumbered over to Smed's tent, and stood outside along with ten more heavily armored goblins in plate armor.

And with that, the night begun.

[Rhindeer]

Owl tried not to look as relieved as she felt. She had asked about his boys because she didn't know what else to say, and it was the first thing to come to mind. She had needed something, anything to throw at him that wasn't a lie or an answer and had just crossed her fingers that it would distract him.

So far, it had.

Even better, the call for the night's shift came, and Owl thanked Kia it came at that moment. She had no hope that the subject wouldn't swing back around to her name, but she at least hoped to put it off, and once the commotion had died down a little she snatched that conversation thread back up again before it could unravel.

"That's really interesting!" she said with a weak smile. "I was just wondering about that, is all. Everyone here seems to adore you, no one bickers, and they seem to be having a good time. And they say the mark of a good leader is how their underlings view and treat them. How many tribes are there, anyway? I'd never seen a blue goblin before until I came here. Do the colors mean anything? Or the marks some of them had?"

[Aeytrious]

The Soot Wolves had moved through the tunnels with great stealth, and many scouts had been sent out to find alternate routes to the surface. There were several caverns filled with goblins, some looked like familial dwellings, others, like the one Rufus looked out upon now, like a military encampment. This wasn't just a cave of goblins as the first reports had told, it was an empire. Somehow, the warring tribes of goblins, normally unable to handle close proximity to each other, were allied, even inter-breading. It was astounding. Too bad they were monsters, and reveled in butchery. A civilization like this would make a great ally, but these beasts were not civilized. They would have to be rooted out somehow, but he had not the numbers to do it now. Instead, the plan had formed to collapse as many tunnels as they could all at once. The fighting would only happen where they had to rescue Owl.

By all the scouting and all the reports to come in, this cavern was the main one, this is where Einin was. All the exits of this cavern now had Wolves standing in them. There had been a rare few encounters with goblins, but they had all been silenced quickly. The diminutive creatures, even the heavily armored ones, had not stood against the powerful poison in the tiny hand crossbows the Soot Wolves carried. Smearing themselves with the stink of the creatures, the men hid their scent from the noses of passing goblins, and the monsters on some occasions passed within inches of the Shadow Wolves that crept about.

Rufus crept forward with his tight nit group close beside him. The spell they followed was tugging them not toward the tallest tent, as he would have suspected, but it was more heavily guarded than the others. From the shadows the men watched as the change for patrol was called. Many of the goblins were speaking in common, which was peculiar. Usually they spoke in their own guttural goblin tongue, with varying dialects by tribe. Really it usually seemed a mash of the giant kin tongue and orc, but not these goblins. From their vantage point a few tents away, Rufus and his Shadows saw an Ogre approach the tent and take up guard. His plate armor was dented heavily, and smeared with dried blood. It was obviously not well crafted, but a brute of that size, in that much metal, would be hard to bring down.

The would-be rescuers crept through the shadows around the tents to approach it from behind. From inside Rufus was sure he heard Einin's voice and so he took out his mirror and flashed the signal back to start the chaos. All at once, Wolves hidden throughout the cavern began to light fires or kill goblins from the shadows, before they melted away to sneak off and do it again somewhere else. All the tunnel entrances were being collapsed by mages, so that the only path out, and to the surface, was the one the Wolves planned to take when they got Einin out of here. They'd collapse that one too as they fled. That was the plan, to flee. There were just too many to fight fair. He'd come back with an army and collapse all the caverns on the heads of the goblins at a lter date. Now it was time to save the girl.

Einin was likely right on the other side of the tent wall from him, so Rufus drew his blade and stabbed a small hole in the fabric to get a look at what was inside.

[DaGlobster]

"Varies by tribe, really." Smed casually stated. He glanced around the tent, looking around for a few moments. The demon was coming back. Smed twitched in his seat for a few moments, before finally relaxing again. Sorry I left you without notice for a while there, Smed. I was...preoccupied with some things the demon's voice said as it boomed through his mind. "No problem, I've kept busy..." Smed muttered, barely above a whisper.

"But there's not just tribes in the caves, you know. Tribes on the surface, too, and these are just the ones around here! I've got connections and friends in every goblin tribe around the world. This isn't even my main camp!" He said, idly scratching the arm rest of the chair he was sitting in. "Even better, I-" He suddenly stopped talking, ears perked up. Smed... the demon muttered, and Smed whispered "I know..." to himself.

There was a noise, a noise almost quiet enough to get by him, but not quite quiet enough.  He smelled at the air. Something didn't smell like goblin to him, something smelled like goblin blood, with a slight hint of human. "Fire breath?" He whispered. Fire breath. The demon replied, and Smed felt some heat build up in his throat, a dim glow starting to come from the back of it. Suddenly, he wheeled around in his seat and released a massive gout of fire from his mouth, aimed directly at where Rufus. It burned in his mouth, and he cried out in pain when he did this. Then, came the screech.

"ALAAAAAAAAAARM!! HUMANS WITH GOBLIN STINK!!"

The words bounced around the cavern wall for a few moments, before the entire camp sprung to life. Goblins everywhere were now aware of the situation, and the cry was repeated several times in different places of the camp. The camp would be flooded now, every single goblin using their nose to try and find their assailants.

Chef came running around the tent, meat cleaver raised and ready to swing at the trespassers. He was deceptively quick for his size, since he had learned how to catch speedy humans under Smed's command.

[Aeytrious]

With tunnels collapsing and fires started all over the cavern, the Soot Wolves began to dance in the shadows. Quick dashes through the darkness, slaying easy prey and running whenever outmatched. It was strike and retreat, sowing chaos everywhere they could. Fighting against men was one thing, but these were Wolves, and though some would be lost, they would take many of these goblins with them, and hopefully give Rufus the time he needed to save Einin.

Rufus was looking through the hole he had made when the fire flew from Smed's mouth toward him. He fell back and rolled doing a backward somersault, springing to his feet as he snatched up some rocks from the ground. A hole was burned in the tent where he'd been peeping, and he could see Owl chained to a post within. He threw the rocks in his hands at Smed as Chef came running around. The four Shadows he had with him scattered shooting their tiny crossbows at the huge ogre. Rufus dove into the tent quickly behind the rocks, and had three daggers tumbling through the air at Smed as well. Without watching to see if his blades hit their mark, Rufus turned to Einin. She was cut and bloody, and covered in some sort of salve. He rushed to Einin and quickly tossed her over his shoulder, running for the hole in the tent as soon as she was secured.

[Rhindeer]

Keep him talking, keep him talking... Owl was working on follow-up questions, which were harder to come up with than usual when everything was misery, when Smed abruptly wheeled around and breathed fire at a wall.

She stared dumbly, thinking at first she might really be losing it, that she might be seeing things now.

And then Rufus dove inside.

Rufus?

Okay. Maybe she really was losing it. She'd talked about him a lot, hoping to implicate herself with him like a small fish hoping to get in the shadow of the bigger, more dangerous fish, but...what? No way. It couldn't really be--

Owl knew it was real when he threw her over his shoulder, chains and all, and everything exploded into agony intense enough she screamed. That confirmed it. This was real. Rufus was here. Rufus had found her, somehow, and though she curled her good hand tightly in the back of his shirt and sobbed with pain as every movement wracked her battered body, her broken arm hanging awkward and limp, it was the best pain she'd felt in her life, and she'd take it. She wasn't just crying out of pain and fear now; it was pure relief.

"Rufus..."

[DaGlobster]

Sure, the beginning was going well for the Wolves, but now, the goblins had finally gotten themselves organized enough to mount attacks of their own. Goblins are, if nothing else, clever creatures, and it didn't exactly take a clever creature to figure out what the wolves were doing here. All over the camp, goblin wizards shot massive balls of flaring light into the air, completely eliminating any darkness or shadow that might exist. There they lingered, like small baleful suns, ensuring that stealth was no longer an option. In the buildings that hung off of the cavern roof (The only way to reach them involved climbing upside down on the cave roof, something a human probably couldn't do without being picked off by the snipers that were now taking position, wielding their own poisoned arrows.

Smed himself acted quickly, ducking his head under the rocks, and jumping out of the seat altogether to dodge the daggers. There was a pause in his actions as he hit the dirt, and he glanced at what was happening just a few feet away. He saw Rufus taking Owl away, and part of him wanted to scream at having his favorite plaything taken away, and the other was smiling, knowing it had all come together. Of course he knew who the Red Wolf was, his gang of thieves had been locked in a shadow war with the Anklehacker Gang since Smed made himself a player in the banditry scene. Sure, a couple of goblins would go missing when conducting Anklehacker business every once in a while, but every now and then, a Soot Wolf would show up at his family's house as a delicious meat pie. Smed knew he'd come for Owl the moment she said she was his lover. Given, he could have prepared for it, maybe set a few traps, hired a couple thousand goblins, and gotten a new shipment of seasoning, but that was beside the point.

So, in the end, there was a smile on his face. In the end, he was doing what he loved. Was it a shame that probably a lot of goblins were going to die? No doubt. But now was not the time to focus on such things. He heard the earth rumble. They were collapsing the caverns, which really didn't hold much, save for maybe the few guards that actually patrolled them. They were mostly one-way passages to tribes on the surface, or in other caves. Contact would be re-established eventually, a little rubble was nothing some goblins with pickaxes couldn't clear up over the course of a summer.

Smed got up quickly, before Rufus could even make it out of the tent. Manifest? The demon asked. "Manifest."  Smed purred, and as he started running after Rufus, his eyes started glowing. His skin visibly darkened by two shades, and a little tail sprouted from his rump. He cackled madly as he ran blisteringly fast towards Rufus, Anklesnagger and Footcleaver drawn and ready to kill. He pounced at them, glee on his face and bloodshed in his eyes.

Chef ignored the men with crossbows for the most part, knowing the futility of trying to chase them down, and threw himself in front of the hole in Smed's tent, hunkering down to become an impenetrable wall of forged steel and muscle. Hopefully, he'd do it in time to block their exit.

[Aeytrious]

Just before Rufus jumped for the hole, a large armor clad figure stepped in his way. Lucky for Rufus, he had quick reflexes, and his jump became a dive. The leader of the Soot Wolves, went under the ogre, between his legs, but clipped Einin on the large makeshift faulds. As he tumbled through the dirt of the cave, the young girl fell from his grip, and skid through the dirt herself. Luckily her momentum took her further than Rufus himself. He pointed to the girl and shouted orders.

"Get her out, NOW!"

Carpere bouncing against his right hip, Rufus drew Aestival and Hiemal into his hands and dashed at the large oaf. His blades cut easily through the armor on the back of the ogres leg, hamstringing the beast. He knew retaliation would be close at hand though, so Rufus dove away, flipping into a somersault and running away. Let the beast try to chase now, with only one working foot. As Rufus fled he sheathed his blades, and rained daggers at the ogres face. Keep him occupied, and in front of the hole, making Smed go around, that was the smart play as The Red Wolf made haste to catch up to the Wolves carrying Owl away.

All across the cavern, light was begining to shine from magical orbs or some such spell. The Shadow Wolves threw down their smoke bombs, blocking vision in a new way, while the Blood Wolves, picked for their skill at combat waded forward to cleave goblin flesh. They would suffer the greatest losses, but any man could be taught to hold a sword. It took real talent to blend into the shadows. The three Blood Wolves picked to protect Rufus stepped up to fight the ogre. Akia, had fought giants, and this was no giant, just a very large ogre. Now cloud giants were big, twenty feet tall and as smart as humans. That was a hard fought battle, had taken thirty men to kill the thing. Ogres were among the smallest, and dumbest of the giant-kin. Only verbeegs and voadkyn were smaller than ogres, and both smarter. So Chef was large for an ogre, probably mixed with fire giant or something, it was known to happen. It was unlikely that the brute was very smart though, especially if it was following goblins and not leading them.

Maliha and Foy stepped forward with Akia to face the creature and cover Rufus as he fled. Akia twirled a grappling hook at the end of a long sturdy chain, the goal was to bring the beast down so they could get at his face. Maliha held a long, sturdy polearm with a wicked curved blade at the end. Reach was important for fighting an opponent twice your height, and she was skilled with the weapon. Foy held a large hammer with both hands. His large, muscled arms bulged at the strain of it. He'd crack at Chef's legs and feet when the opportunity arose, and he would deal the final blow to the ogres head when the beast was brought down. Even if the felled the little giant, they knew it was unlikely that they would escape alive with the number of goblins in the cavern, but each was picked because they would face death with a smile on their faces. This is how they lived, and how they wished to die.

[Rhindeer]

Einin's grip tightened on Rufus's shirt, because while she couldn't see much from this angle, when she lifted her head she saw Smed charging after them and opened her mouth to shout a warning--

And then something hit her, and she hit the dirt.

She didn't know what happened after that, because she slipped out of consciousness and when she came back she was in someone else's arms, and they were running. She blinked up at him, but his face swam in her vision and her eyes rolled back again. Not Rufus, but a Wolf. She blinked in and out of consciousness, not really aware of what was going on anymore, because everything was loud and chaotic, and everything was throbbing pain and the rush of her pulse in her ears.

[DaGlobster]

CHEF'S POV:

The massive mountain ogre grunted and fell onto one knee as Rufus took a quick shot as he ran past him. Coward. The three daggers plinked off of his helmet, of which the only part left open was his mouth, and he looked up at the three Blood Wolves that approached him, with their wicked weapons. Chef grunted, and stood back up on both of his legs. By the smiles on their faces, Chef could tell that these three idiots didn't know what they were dealing with. Sure, he was an ogre, but not one of the stupid little shits that lived down in caves and swamps. Mountain ogres are a civilization in their own right, and certainly not even in the same league as regular ogres. Mountain giants paid their respects to mountain ogres, not the other way around. Mountain ogres also had a power that regular ogres dreamed they could possess. The Hunger.

Chef, being an fully grown and fully fledged veteran, was in complete control of his Hunger, and as he looked at his opponents, he could feel it building up. A faint red smoke started to come off of his shoulders, and his ankle wound knitted itself up. Chef released a guttural sounding growl, and advanced. The woman with the grappling hook lashed out, and Chef caught it in his free hand. For his size, he was dangerously fast, as the giant killers would soon realize. He tugged Akia off her feet and sent her flying towards him, spinning her around like a flail. The other two advanced, and Chef continued in his walk towards them, unfazed by their battle cries.

Foy was next. He swung it at Chef's knee, but Chef was way too well armored and way too strong for the man to even hope to hurt him. Chef thrust his knee towards the man as he swung, and when his knee clashed with the hammer, the hammer bounced off, leaving nothing but a dent in the armor and causing it to fly out of Foy's grasp. Maliha thrust her polearm forwards, and she managed to sink it into a chink it Chef's belly armor. Chef huffed some air out of his nose at this, and watched her try to pull out the weapon, only to find it stuck. With one swing of his cleaver, she was made two separate people, her upper body flying towards Rufus like a screaming cannonball. Chef pulled out the polearm, and tossed it aside.

Chef stopped spinning Akia around by her own weapon, letting the chain coil around his wrist until he caught her in his hand. She pulled a dagger out and started stabbing his hand, but this had no real effect on him. He quickly brought her up to his mouth, and bit down, removing most of her upper torso. He chewed for a few seconds, before swallowing, and then ate the rest of her in one bite. He let out a pleased groan, and felt his wounds heal faster.

Suddenly, something hit him in the knee again, and this time he fell over, not expecting Foy to get his hammer back so quickly. Foy followed up with a hammer blow to the head, which, apart from denting the helmet and disorienting Chef for a few moments, only served to piss him off. Chef lashed out with an arm, and grabbed Foy by the upper body. He brought Foy to his mouth, and bit one of his legs off, swallowing it whole. He stood back up, and promptly threw Foy straight down into the stone floor, breaking every bone in his body. Chef stomped on him, and Foy burst like an overripe tomato.

SMED'S POV (sorry for shortness on this bit.):

Smed was put slightly behind Rufus by having to weave between Chef's legs, but he was back on the chase, the thrill of it all intoxicating him. He started to build up speed again, and started to gain on them again. "~Come back, Pigeon! I'm not done with you!~" He called out in a sing-songy tone, his voice distorted by the demon's. As he sped after them, he started to build up another glow in his mouth, and from his mouth jumped replicas of him, made of fire. They cackled and laughed as they floated in the air for a bit, then sped through the air, not towards Rufus, but towards the wolves accompanying him.

[Aeytrious]

As Rufus ran, close behind the Shadow carrying Owl, he howled out a signal. The cry was repeated by others, and soon throughout the cavern, every Wolf had heard the call. They made their final strikes and began to fall back, each and every one of them fleeing, carrying wounded where they could, abandoning friends where there was no other choice. A great deal of the fighting was happening on the border of the path Rufus ran along. The path had been chosen for it's directness to the designated exit, and Wolves stood ready to defend their leader as he fled with his quarry in hand.

With three of his chosen five left behind, only two of The Red Wolf's hand picked men remained with him. One carried Einin, the other ran interference whenever a goblin got too close to them. As the flame copies of Smed flew toward them, the unburdened Wolf stopped to meet his as Rufus and the other Wolf continued to flee. He fought bravely, but his attacks seemed to do little to the fire created creature, and he soon found himself immolated, rolling about in pain as the flames consumed him. The other flame goblin did not stop in it's pursuit, but with his arms around Einin, the final Wolf with Rufus did not slow. Instead, Rufus found himself dashing toward the embodiment of flame. As he approached it, the corona of fire began to sputter, as if it's life were draining away from it. With a swipe of his short sword, Aestival, with it's fire defeating magics, the crux of the being could no longer subsist, and the entity dissipated.

As Rufus turned to continue his flight from the cavern, nearby Wolves began to fall in behind him, leaving their fights and sabotage unfinished. With their short legged goblin pursuers pouring out after them, the road was quickly becoming chocked with running feet. On occasion a few Wolves would stop and shoot poisoned bolts or toss daggers into the faces of the chasing goblins that couldn't quite keep up with their shorter legs. A few Wolves went down as they caught weapons to their backs as they fled. As painful as each loss was though, the fallen Wolves helped the others escape. The goblins, filled with their lust for the kill, would fall over the men and women they'd taken down, hacking them into messes, creating islands of interruption in the road that others of their kind would have to maneuver around. Only about a hundred meters lay between Rufus, and the mouth of the narrow tunnel that would serve as exit. The mages at the exit began to throw great fireballs out into the goblin cavern, and as the Wolves fled through the single tunnel, traps would be left in their wake. The escape plan was well in hand. These were it's final moments. Rufus hoped it would go smoothly.

[DaGlobster]

As Smed chased after Rufus, something clicked in his head. Even if they escaped, he had still gleamed Owl's true name. Such was the wonder of long distance magical communication. No matter how he looked at it, Smed had already won. There was no need for any more goblins to die. With that, instead of clearing a pile of goblins chopping up a Wolf in a single bound, he jumped up on top of it, and pulled a small horn from his belt. He blew on it, and it produced a shrill, undulating tone.

As the fireballs from the wizards came in, they sputtered and crashed against an invisible anti-magic wall. Smed took another deep breath, and blew on it again, and the wall started to solidify.

If Rufus sprinted like he never did before, he had a chance of making it out before the force-field solidified. Anybody who was still inside when it went down would become ingredients in tomorrow's breakfast. Once the wall came down, it would push outwards, expanding through the tunnels, clearing any rubble and pushing out any Wolves with the power of a raging river.

[Aeytrious]

After saving his son from the Valeska and Mountain Cats, then bringing order to Cerenis, followed by the wild goose chase that had finally led to the Glint Hawks, Theodore Wrenthis was reaching his limit. He needed to rest, really, rest. The potions he'd been using to keep himself going only worked so long. Eventually his mind would give out, and before that, his body would grow sluggish. There was no way that Rufus was going to make it outside the force field that was coming down. How a force field could be made magically and exude antimagic, was a mystery to work on another day, but that was the case none the less, and since this magic wasn't magic, his eye patch gave little assistance.

As the Wolf carrying Einin was nearing the quickly solidifying boundary, the unthinkable happened. He tripped. Einin once again was thrown to the ground, bouncing and tumbling in the dirt, falling short of the boundary. The Wolf was not so lucky. He stumbled after dropping Einin, and didn't fall right away. Then he tumbled to the ground, rolling and bouncing faster than Owl had. Half on each side of the boundary as it solidified, he was sliced cleanly in half. The trapped Wolves turned, weapons drawn, and did not pause as they took the attack back at the goblins. Rufus, tired as he was, rushed to Einin. He checked her pulse, then poured one of his magic tonics down her throat. She spluttered as a bit went down her lungs, but the magic would mend any damage breathing in liquids could cause. He lifted her nearly nude body, noting that a few of her cuts were not healing properly, something clearly had been put into the wounds to cause them to scar. It would take stronger magic and a bit of time, but nothing was irreversible when you had money and power, two things Ryk and Rufus had plenty of. It was always handy being two people when it came to resources.

Rufus tossed Owl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and turned back toward the goblins. His men were falling fast, but they pushed into the goblins cutting him a path to their leader Smed. The fighting was fierce, but the Wolves managed, folding in behind Rufus as he walked through. He had to duck a few projectiles in his approach, but he didn't feel he was in much danger. There were a lot of the smelly goons, but they were still only goblins. There were dogs that were smarter than goblins. As the last of his trapped Wolves were falling to the goblins, Rufus was forced to act. With one arm strongly gripping Einin's legs to keep her secure on his shoulder, Rufus reached into his hip pouch and pulled out one of his myriad magic items. He focused on his antimagic to keep it from interfering with the object, and activated it. A wall of swirling blades materialized around him, and as he walked forward it sliced and diced goblins into ribbons. Again he reached into a pouch and activated a magic item. This one called forth powerful winds that swirled around knocked projectiles away, and toppling goblins into the swirling blades. Rufus was known for having an abundant supply of trinkets that could lay waste to armies or supply a feast for a kingly court. Today he was fighting an army. Focusing on the separate magics was taxing his mind though, and he couldn't keep it up much longer.

He was sure he could see Smed ahead of him. The goblin looked smug, he had the Canis Rufus trapped. The notorious and legendary Red Wolf, caught by mere goblins. It was absurd. As if Rufus would not prepare for everything. As winds and blades swirled around him, keeping him safe, Rufus reached into another pouch and pulled forth the figurine of an orator. He pressed the little stone man to his throat and spoke in an amplified voice.

"I have won this round, and I will win them all. I am the leader of the Soot Wolves, who are now allies with the Glint Hawks. You have made enemies of the most powerful humans in Serendipity. I am going to spread word of your army, your families, throughout the land. Goblins, who are already reviled will be hunted down and killed everywhere. Any goblins seen will be killed on sight. You Smed, I intend to personally kill, as soon as you're important enough to make it to the top of my list. I'm a busy man, with a world to finish conquering. I'll get to you eventually. In the mean time, you'll wanna keep clear of my little bird. Now that I'm back, I'll be watching her closely. I know goblins have a short lifespan Smed, but I trust the talisman around your neck will keep you alive until I have the time to remove it by removing your head."

With his declaration of war on goblinkind, Rufus replaced the orator in its pouch and pulled out a sapphire as big as his eye. He threw the expensive magic item onto the ground, where it burst, spewing forth blue flames. They shot out at hurricane speed, but with as much force as a breath. The flames sought the bodies of all the Wolves. They had all been carrying small tokens that had been attuned to their bodies and linked to the sapphire magically. As the flames touched them, the corpses were all teleported away. Even the hunks of flesh in the mouths of greedy goblins were whisked away to the tunnels of the Wolves Den. Rufus himself was deposited in his private chambers. There he set Einin on his bed before taking his secret passage to Chora's room. He needed her to be on hand for healing needs.

((OOC: Rufus and Einin teleport to here. Enjoy!))