Boy, oh boy. Smart goblins. Wait, no. That was maybe asking too much. Mildly intelligent goblins. Enough to anticipate an attack. Reeva resisted the urge to sigh. It would have made noise. Instead, she set up a quick and dirty tripwire trap: nothing fancy or especially lethal, but the impact of a goblin falling would make noise. Enough to let her know if any of the little green bastards decided to try and man the wall while she left it unattended.

That done, she went back down the way she came, regrouping with the rest of the party. At least going down was quicker than climbing up. She jogged back over to the group, getting straight to business. Time was of the essence.

"Right, so. Goblins were tipped off even before we got here. They know something's coming. Doubt they know what it is, or they'd be on full alert. But they're ready for a fight. I'll get back up top, flank them when it comes to a fight. Look out for some kind of ambush, maybe a runner that's trying to see what's going on. Either way, expect them to be dug in. We should be clear to get past the gate, either way. Sound good? Great, break!"

Report complete, Reeva made to scale the wall again, repeating the same vigilance she kept before as she clambered back up top, checking on her tripwire and disarming it before creeping further ahead along the wall, trying to see where the goblins were holed up.

"Break?" Corinne asked, tilting her head and blinking a few times. "Break what?"

"She means we should get started," Liliane said, shaking her head at the other girl's odd conclusion, "If they're dug in, you might be the best option to let us get in close. Start casting, Cori."

"Oh, right! Umm…" the mage frowned in concentration, then started chanting something under her breath, the antiquated Talderian flowing smoothly, a chant calling on the sky, and the wind, and the tempest. Light swirled and gathered around the head of the staff, flashing and pulsing erratically. When she was nearly done, the other Hundi nodded and rushed for the gates, daggers in hand.

"Right, fire when I say. Everyone else, cover your ears and don't look," There was no point firing if one goblin just came rushing through on its own, but if there were multiple…

Practically dragging the mage through the opening in the walls, Liliane waited until she could clearly hear the chattering, then ­"Now!"

"Thunderclap!"

Whatever the goblins were expecting, she really doubted the little greenskins would be prepared for what appeared to just be a bright light shooting ahead into the fort. Nor for it to explode with a deafening crack and a blinding light. Much easier pickings for everyone else to fall in on.

Abigail Blackthorn

---

Abigail tapped her foot, not quite impatient but approaching it, waiting for the thief to return. It was the smart move, sending her out to figure out what they were dealing with, but it meant waiting. While waiting the dwarf had chimed in, mentioning the first sight of goblins meant swinging, getting a nod from Abigail in agreement.

"Agreed, only good response to a goblin."

Fortunately they were not waiting long for Reeva to make her way back, moving faster on the return than the trip out. Running away was always the easier route, Abigail thought, though she said nothing out loud to interrupt the hurried explanation from the thief. Goblins were tipped off? That was a new one. Either they had all missed the sentry goblin that had warned the rest of their approach, or someone had told the nasty creatures of their approach and they listened. Ready for a fight just meant earning her coin through honest slaughter instead of completely carrying an ambush forward. Clear to the gate, after that, was steel and blood time. Then the thief was off, and Abigail rocked her head back and forth, loosening up just a bit more.

"Wonder if any evidence of the tip off will survive our little trip..."

Corinne was questioning the use of break which, well, who was a village bumpkin turned axe slinging adventurer to judge how someone spoke? Dug in meant digging them out, though Liliane had a plan for that. Corinne started chanting, magic slinging impending, and Abigail got moving alongside the others, staying close to the front to intercept any sudden danger. Light swirled around that staff head, and by the time she looked nearly ready the otehr Hundi drew steel and rushed for the gate. Abigail followed close behind, two handed axe at a low ready and she nodded along with the plan.

"Got it, I'll head in first before they recover from....whatever spell that is. Everyone else keep my flanks clear, yeah?"

Abigail dutifully covered her ears, turning her head away to put some of her hood between her and the flash, eyes screwed shut. Even then, the impending crack and light would at least bleed through a little. When the spell went off? Abigail would be on her feet and already charging, half watching for traps, half watching for the nearest cluster of goblins she could start hacking into pieces. Time to earn her coin through honest killing.

The Farm
@Rune_Alchemist@HereComesTheSnow@Octo@ERode@VitaVitaAR

---

A competition, really. The tiny paladin and Hrefna were getting into an amusing bit of competition during this whole thing. No doubt the paladins pride was going to be hurt after this, especially after Hrefna's revelation about the source of the curse. The sheep themselves weren't cursed, but rather, something elsewhere had its claws in them. Not much for her to do if everyone else was doing the other work proper, so she contented herself with simply curling up and watching. Fine with her. The less she had to do the better.

"Suppose I'll take the third shift in six hours, then if need be." Hyseliea offered after Pete, coiling up near the pens. It was warm enough in here, and being closer to the sheep would be better in case one started to wander off or something came in and snatched it anyways.

"Yes, tiny one will take first watch," Hrefna agreed, nodding to Pete, "less bad things likely to happen early on. Is easy enough even for Ingvarr calf-child, so little paladin can do."

Hrefna had already taken note of how Rylia reacted to being called 'tiny', and thus had incorporated it more into her speech. She grinned as she enjoyed the girl's seething.

"If Pyotr takes next, and pretty snake whose name I have difficulty pronouncing go last, then Hrefna will see you all in morning. I will prefer to sleep outside, just in case danger appears. Merely call upon my strength and I will crush our enemies," Hrefna said, capping it all off with a yawn. She slept terribly anyways, so to be awoken for combat was a boon. With Csenge doing analysis, there wasn't much for Hrefna to do except get to know the sheep.

If everything else failed, she would be able to track any of the sheep that go missing as long as she was reasonably acquainted with whichever sheep it was. To this end, she would spend her night greeting the creatures just in case. She would probably look like a lazy fool, but being underestimated led to better stories in the end. The Wyrmbender family needed good stories.

She turned to Rylia.

"You hear Hrefna, small one? If things too difficult, come to get Hrefna and she will end your troubles," she reiterated, pulling a flask from a small pouch and taking a swig. It would be without class to not drink at night when you had already drunk during the day, after all.

The green, wiry figures that emerged into the yard were unmistakable, with their beady red eyes, batlike ears, and long, hooked noses. One did not need to be an expert to identify them.

The goblins' formation was disorganized and scattered. The had armed themselves, of course, at least a dozen of the green-skinned creatures having filtered into the open yard wielding spears, daggers, and swords. A trio of goblins with crude shortbows stood in the back, closer to the entrance to the deeper fort, but aside from that it seemed they were more intent on investigating for potential intrusion than aware it had already begun. Most were clad in pilfered armor, likely from the remains of deceased warriors found in low places judging by is rather rough condition. Some weapons were wood and carved bone, while others were crudely worked metal, and a handful of daggers and spears were clearly taken in a similar manner to the armor.

And certainly, none of the fort's current occupants were ready for what came next.

A chorus of surprised, cacophonous shrieks arose from the fort as the blinding light filled the air above them, and an earsplitting crack assaulted the goblins' ears. Unprepared for the spell, many of the creatures covered their eyes and staggered back, unable to swiftly recover.

@Raineh Daze@Animal@Psyker Landshark@Eisenhorn@The Otter

---

"Queer. That's a bear skull, goblins usually won't go that large of game...scavenged, probably?" As Reeva went ahead to scout, and the rest milled about considering their plan of attack, Calaphindë was seemingly transfixed by the skulls. Multiple birds, as expected; a couple deer, one goat, even a jackal—and also, occupying a spot of clear visibility, a bear skull. A bear skull that was, even more curiously:

"Where are its teeth...oh, what?" Luckily, he hadn't been looking towards the goblins as Corinne's thunder was loosed, though he did look up immediately after. "They're out this early? Hmm...Can't have that." His eyes locked onto the disoriented archers to the back of the goblin 'formation,' dropping his spear in favor of his bow and drawing an arrow back as easily as he breathed.

One of the shrieks was silenced as one of the archers dropped to the ground, the shaft of an arrow sticking out of its neck. He nocked another, turning towards the next goblin—"Oh, hey, that one has a necklace with a bear tooth on it. Wonder what that's all about?" He drew and shot once again, chatting away as he thinned the goblins' numbers.

Abigail Blackthorn

---

Even braced for it, the noise and flash was intensive enough to make Abigail aware that, without the given warning, she would have been sitting out the best part of the fight, the opening of it. She gave the goblins a quick once over as the spell faded, spotting the usual mix of ramshackle equipment and stolen weapons in the usual amounts. Stolen armor, or looted, small difference but it did not look to be in particular good shape either. They had not been ready for the magic unleashed on them, the way they were organized did not strictly strike Abigail as being meant to walk into a fight, more looking to see if one was about to start. Still, no time to think, time to do what she did best and earn her gold.

Abigail grinned as she launched forward from the crouching position, red hood and cloak billowing in her wake as she made a lunging rush for the closest cluster of the goblins to line up as many of them as she could to convert the momentum of her lunge into a sweeping cleave with her two handed axe, aiming to split as many goblins in half as she could with the swing. She let out a sharp laugh as she swung, already sizing up how to make a beeline for the next goblin that was alive and not going to put her in the way of the rest of the party to work, already working up to her usual approach to fighting to slam into the front ranks and just keep going until she ran out of targets or had to disengage for some reason.

Fortunately, her back had been to the flash spell to begin with. The loud bang was still irritating, and it'd thrown her focus off for a moment. But without the flash to accompany it, Reeva could deal with her ears ringing.

The assassin drew her shortbow and nocked an arrow, taking a second to make a quick survey in the field. Frontline fighters being dealt with, while the ones not directly in the blending zone jostling for their turn instead of trying to flank. Three archers in the back, still trying to shake off the flashbang.

Well, she could't have that, now. Reeva sighted one of the archers, loosing her arrow at its head. A second followed to its companion. The third was left to scramble to recover as Reeva repositioned, moving further up the rampart to get a better angle. Two kill shots from the same sniping position had been pushing it as it was. She was getting greedy, just because it was goblins they were dealing with. Bad form.

As Reeva grew closer, she lowered her bow, creeping along the ramparts behind cover. With the last archer on full alert, she picked up a loose stone, hurling it at the goblin's feet. With any luck, that split second of distraction was all she needed. Nock. Aim. Loose.

---

Freya tilted her helmet downward and used part of her fake beard as improvised earmuffs. This at least provided some layer of protection from her comrade's spell, though the sound still rocked her tiny ears. After the initial flash, now it's time to get to work and not let opportunity go to waste!

“So these trash gnomes knew we were coming? So what? It's not gonna make a difference!”

The dwarf woman focused her gaze upon for what appeared to be the most ironclad goblin among the group, ignoring the rest. Though in reality none of them actually fit the description, they were all poorly geared and mismatched. The sight honestly disgusted her. One unlucky goblin was chosen out of the bunch, for simply wielding a sword and wearing metal protection on their chest. They stood out the most to Freya, poor bastard.

Clenching her war hammer, the air shifted around her as the engraved runes responded to her guided motions. Freya used the wind to push herself forward, with a hard gust following behind. While she tried to keep it concentrated in a small area so as to not put arrows off course for the sake of the archers, the dwarf was rather overzealous in reaching her intended target. The strong winds easily snapped the strings that held the bone and pottery ornaments they saw earlier. Along with displacing lightweight debris like bits of gravel, timber, and other trash lying about.

In a moment's notice, Freya came face to face with the staggered goblin before they could even recover from that blinding light. There was a wide grin across the dwarf's face, with her hammer swinging at full force across that green bastard's plated chest. As one would expect, the armor didn't save this goblin from having their chest caved in and violently sent flying to the other side of the fort. With her prime target gone, she turned her attention to the other goblins. Bodies were already dropping one by one, both from afar and in close combat. So Freya added to those numbers by covering Abigail's blind spots, and utilizing the powerful knock back from her swings to assist the archers with their marks.