Risha Interlude: War and Secret Societies

Alexandra pulled the mask of her hood up, covering her face. In front of her, a drunk man and woman stumbled out of a small wooden building, barely keeping their feet as they walked down the street of the border village. 

Leave it to soldiers to get drunk at the first opportunity. Alexandra shook her head, then pushed her way into the building. The pub smelled of the spices that were home to Alveron’s border towns. The pub’s owner hurried over to his kegs, refilling the drinks of the many men and women finding solace at the bottoms of their mugs. 

Alexandra pushed past a man mumbling to himself, and finally spotted the person she was looking for. 

He sat alone at a table in the corner, staring at his mug like it held the answers to all of his questions. 

She made her way over to him.

He didn’t look up as she sat in the chair across from him. 

“Captain Ryan?” Alexandra asked.

The man looked up, his eyes holding a sharpness to them, despite the half empty mug he contemplated so deeply. “Did Devon send you?”

“Your lieutenant? No, he didn’t.”

“What do you want then?”

Alexandra didn’t answer right away, waiting instead for a barmaid to walk over to them.

Alexandra smiled at the woman, “Some cider for me, and for my friend.” 

The barmaid happily accepted the coins that Alexandra slipped her then made her way over to the barkeep with a sway of her hips. 

Alexandra turned back to the surly captain, “I heard you spoke with the leader of the enemy forces.” 

The man laughed, “Everyone’s heard about that.” He took a long gulp of his drink, then slammed it down on the table. “Alright, so what do you wanna know so bad that you’re buying a disgraced soldier his drink?” 

Two mugs were set in front of them. Alexandra took a sip of hers, enjoying the spicy sweetness. “What did she say to you?” 

The man shrugged, “That she came from across the mountains. She wanted to speak with our leaders. I pointed her to the city.” He took a long drink from his mug, “Then she called Lochlin an idiot.” He snorted, and looked up at Alexandra with a smirk, “She was right.”

“Lochlin, that was the elven druid with you?”  

He nodded. “Damn near started a battle we couldn’t win. I’ve fought orc spiders before. The monsters I saw crawling through the trees, they were something entirely different.” 

“What did you think of her?”

Ryan stared at Alexandra for a long moment, weighing how much he should say. Finally, he drank some more of the cider, and let out a long sigh. “A fierce young woman, far too human for my liking. I have no doubt in my mind that she could have had us all killed, if she’d wanted to. But she chose not to.” He gave a grimace, “Aright, young miss, I’m done with this interrogation. The drink bought you some questions, but I want to be left alone in my misery.” 

Alexandra stood up, then paused, “One last question?”

He looked up at her with annoyance, then let out a breath, “Shyanne’s will, go for it.” 

“Why did the general remove you from your command?” 

Ryan glared at her, but the answer still came all the same. “When the released elves gave us the Goblin’s message to halt our advances, I disagreed with the general. I wanted to stop the fighting. The general… well, he didn’t like my ‘treasonous sympathies’. Pompous maggot. Now look where we are.”

Alexandra studied the man for a long moment, “Do you think… do you think that we’re the bad guys?”

The man burst into laughter, “Oh, sweetheart, of course we are. There ain’t no good guys in war. You saw what we did to those orc villages. Why? Conscience finally catching up to you? Is that why you’re here?” His voice gained volume as he talked, “I’ve watched as defenceless orc children were slaughtered. I saw little goblins hiding in their homes, burned alive. Why do you think I’m sitting here, drinking my life away? We could’ve done good, oh, we had it in us. We could’ve stopped their raiders, and left it at that. But General Maggot wanted to dig out their roots, he wanted to see every last one of them burned and buried. You don’t see that in the skies, do you, Rider?” He snorted, his voice quieting  “Yeah, I know who you are. You’re lucky, we’re all just ants from up there, you don’t have to see their eyes. You don’t have to see the terror of children.” 

The pub was completely quiet, not a single man or woman speaking. The Captain had ended his tirade in a whisper, and yet, every single person had heard the words. Alexandra looked around, seeing looks of anger, despair, and the all-too-familiar dead eyes of people who had seen too much. 

Finally, a woman stood up and made her way over, “Ryan.”

The captain looked up at her.

“You’ve been here all day, let’s get you some rest, yeah?” She looked over to Alexandra, “Don’t hold it against him, Rider. We’ve all had a long six months.” 

Alexandra didn’t answer right away. Her thoughts a whirlwind of emotions. Finally she stepped closer to the man, who was far less intoxicated than he let on. “Come find me, later.”

She spun around, and walked away, the eyes of the pub on her as she left the building.

She was done. Done with the killing of innocents, and done with seeing monsters as less than human.

She should have known better.

***

Elder Kulos slipped through the night, his presence unremarkable, even to the sharp-nosed kobolds. 

Torches and moonlight lit his way as he entered a large nondescript tent at the center of their forces.

Other High Goblins, and a singular Ambush Spider, resting in the corner of the tent, turned to him. 

Every High Goblin here wore cloaks of spider thread, spun by the Ambush Spider above them. This was no normal thread, as it seemed to shift and change with their surroundings, one moment looking like the fabric of the tent, the next a normal gray. Every single goblin here had a mask up high, hiding their identity. Elder Kulos and the Ambush Spider were the only two to know the identities of every goblin in the room.

The gathered goblins saluted Elder Kulos, bowing their heads. He walked over to one edge of the room, his steps slow as he thought long and hard. Elder Kulos lived for the Grand Mother, but he did not trust her people as she did. This group was not purposeful, at first, but people flocked to him, looking for a voice where they felt they had none. 

The Empire of monsters was not as uniform as the Grand Mother hoped. Slavery and hatred was not so easily forgotten, and Kulos had found groups of every race with plans to kill the Grand Mother, or destroy the peace that she held together. That was why they existed. Goblins from every part of society, reporting to him on dangers, military movements, insurrectionists, the monsters of the forest. 

He’d even helped that orc’s family survive assassination on an occasion or two, loathe as he was to admit it. 

He saluted the goblins back, and they raised their heads.

“The Grand Mother has seen through us,” Kulos said.

The words shocked the goblins. After every precaution they took to stay secret, they’d still been discovered. 

Kulos smiled and shook his head, “Every day, she finds ways to surprise me. I’d expect nothing less from the Grand Mother. She somehow knew of my activities to protect her, and has officially chosen me to stand beside her, giving her blessing to our group.”

Several goblins whispered excitedly, happy with the news. The only creature to remains silent was the Ambush Spider in the corner of the tent. It knew that there was more the Elder wanted to say.

“With her acknowledgement, I am making changes. Many of you won’t like this, and I understand why. The world the Grand Mother wants to create isn’t meant to be easy, which is why we must support her at every turn.” Elder Kulos reached out, and one of the goblins handed him the silk cloak they all wore, except his was darker, made of black silk. He placed it over his frame, and lifted his head towards one of the cloaked goblins, “First Hunter,” 

The cloaked goblin stepped forward.

“You recommended a Kobold, the coyote, to our group.” 

“Yes, Elder Kulos.”

“We will accept them as a First. We will also find…” Elder Kulos, paused, the decision hard for him, but one he knew he must make. “We will find an orc to be a First. Does anyone have a recommendation?” 

There was silence for a long moment, no goblin daring to step forward. Finally, one of the slimmer goblins, a Third, stepped forward. “May I suggest, Elder?” 

Elder Kulos nodded.

“I know a Shaman. I recommend her for the position of Orc First.” 

“You may approach her,” Kulos said. He turned around, and sat down on a pillow. The goblins relaxed at the movement, “tell me, what news comes from home? What have we learned?” 

The four goblins who bore the title of First stepped forward, reporting on the things they’d learned.