[@Searat] [@BigPapaBelial]

It was nearly time for Siwa to give birth to her litter. By now, she was in no shape to dance, let alone farm or gather food. It was all she could do to get food from the granary and Koglan. Fortunately, a mother goblin so obviously swollen with a litter was treated quite well by most of the other goblins, at least when it came to courtesy. All of them knew that their survival as a tribe and the survival of goblins as a species depended on a high birth rate, given that they had little else going for them but rapid reproduction when compared to humans, elves, dwarves, even halflings.

As excited as Siwa was at the prospect of becoming a mother, she became more nervous as the possibility of war grew nearer with each day. Even if it was just a raid designed to rob the tribe of its food, the possibility of facing a food shortage as winter set in caused no small amount of fear among every mother of young goblins, who needed much nutrition to survive their fragile first months. It was during these months that Breden visited her, finally growing into the hunter and fighter the tribe needed him to be. In fact, he was already as capable as most warriors of his age; he only needed to prove his might in combat to be accepted as a true warrior. As much as Siwa admired his growing martial prowess, she found his choice of clothing today to be lacking.

"You will take those filthy things off before coming in here, and that's final!" 

"They're called footwraps, and they take me a while to take off. I just put a fresh pair on an hour ago and-"

"Save it. A mother has to keep her place clean. Gods knows what you've stepped in already." Sighing, he began to unwrap the cloth from his feet. 

"Alright. It's not like I enjoy using them, but it is getting colder out and if we're going to war, there's gonna be a lot of marching in the snow and- never mind." He would have protested her attitude, but he knew that her ill mood was due to the inevitable stresses of pregnancy, and he didn't want to push his luck with her. Breden had been getting a bit more attention from the females lately, but Siwa wasn't among them this past month. Although she had been amorous towards him a few times, Breden had refused her attentions for aesthetic reasons. Simply put, she was too swollen to be attractive, and he knew that there was no point in wasting his energy on trying to impregnate a female who was already in that state. 

"So, are you getting enough food?"

"Oh yes. Kog has been very kind to me."

"Good. Now, the chief has asked me and some other goblins to assemble in a few hours. We've been hearing rumors about a raid, and I'm part of a patrol which will stop it if one of the other tribes tries something. If there is a raid, please stay indoors, don't make any noise, and if you are attacked by another tribe, give them what they want, even if it is food. We can always get more food, and it isn't worth risking your family over some grain and fish."

"O-okay. Not like I can do much to defend myself anyway-" she eyed a stone knife she kept in her hut. If she had to use it, she would. "Who else is going to be part of the patrol?"

"Griz, I think. And Gurs, Rom, and about a dozen other guys I don't really know. Really, these things aren't that formal. The chief called us up, but he can't really force us to go if we don't want to."

"Well, do you want to?"

"Honestly, I'd rather be at home. I've got plenty of food and I can always hunt for more. But it's not just about me... mostly."

Siwa gave him a little smile. "Ladies love a war hero, don't they?"

"Yes." She put a hand on his chest, feeling the muscles there. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make a lot of females very happy when this is all over."