"Remind me again what the one thing was that you were not supposed to do?"

"Bother the adventurers..."

"And what did you do?"

"It's not our fault!" Ada fell out against her father. "They threatened us first!"

He peered around her waist to the youths sitting on the stone street, they were being harassed by his other child, Felix. "Dammit, I know those two."

"Do we... send them away?" She asked.

"I'll go talk to them. You keep your eye on the sky, see if you can find any owls."

That suggestion scared her and she fearfully looked around at the cloudy heaven.

-

"And this? What's this for?" Felix had turned the pat down into an interrogation as he obsessed over the novel new killing implements they'd brought along.

"It's razor wire, it's used for traps. Give it back please." Rudy had a polite tone of voice but he was clearly tired and impatient.

"Why? Do you want to use it?"

"It's just for traps."

"It's for garroting," Scratch corrected him, "you're a hitman now, are ya?"

"What do we do with them?" Ada asked.

Her father put on a magnanimous face. "We give them the standard adventurer treatment."

The captives eyed each other in concern.

"And this our water tower," Scratch explained in a tour-guidey way.

The adventurers and their client had been undone of their bindings and were being led around the entire promise.

"Aimone here set it up, he is our minister of waterworks," he patted the man's leg as if it was his shoulder, "flown in from the land of water."

"Managgia, don't touch me subhuman."

"He's a bit temperamental. Next, let's have a look at the manor. I live their with my girl-"

"Why are you showing us all this?" The cat-eared girl said defiantly.

Scratch stared perplexed at the moving feline biology sticking up from her head. "I'm sorry... what was the question?"

"Papa is showing you we're a peaceful society," Ada poked her back with a stick, sharped to a painful but not quite sharp point, "so you stop coming here to kill us."

"We're not here to kill goblins," the green haired with apprentice insisted, "we were on a mission in the witchwood."

"Think of us as a welcoming committee." The patriarch retorted. "A little tour of the facilities as a gift."

"But you're forcing us."

"You wouldn't want to be impolite to the welcoming committee, would you?"

As they were walking towards the manor, Lydia Harkness suddenly appeared in front of them. She looked at her most intimidating, a metal breastplate and her throwing knives displayed on her belt.

"There we have her, fbi's most wanted." Scratch greeted her.

As her way of curbing his nonsense words she put her hand over his head for a condescending head rub.

"We've organized lodgings for you tonight." She told the prisoners. "Tomorrow morning I'll escort you to the edge of the forest myself."

Scratch lifted her hand from his eyes. "Wanna put them in the living room?"

"Huckabee and his friends have some spare room." She said, "and they can defend themselves."

-

Not too long after the tour concluded and the adventurers were brought to the bandit's home.

Their temporary lodgings was a squat brick building with a carpeted floor and very small windows.

The light inside was generated by candles and the occasional magic. During the daylight hours, the usual inhabitants were outside anyway.

They were gathered in the living room, were the bandits could see all of them at the same time, given itchy horse hair blankets and told to sleep on the floor.

"Pyuu~ this food is gross." Their vanguard stuck out her tiny tongue in disgust.

"It's better than they had last time." The martial artist shrugged, jamming the undercooked potato slices into her mouth, "maybe ish jush cause I'm hungry," she mumbled through a mouthful.

"Where did they get corn from? We didn't get to see corn fields on that tour..." The rogue speculated.

"Hey, Hey." Huckabee pointed at them as authoritatively as possible, "eat your soup, I don't want to hear anything other than slurping sounds."

"It's supposed to be soup?" The boy asked incredulously.

-

"How about you all go to sleep," Huckabee suggested, "the sooner you fall asleep the sooner you'll get up to leave."

"It's got to be, like, eight o'clock." The martial artist said.

"Yeah... well... We can just sit here and keep staring at each other..."

They did for a few minutes but it was untenable.

"What made you decide to become a bandit?" The martial artist eventually asked.

"Nobody decides to become a bandit," Huckabee scoffed, "I had to."

"But why?" She insisted.

"Listen, just go to sleep. Miss Harkness told me not to talk to you or I might reveal some secrets."

"Your name is Huckabee isn't it?" The rogue changed the subject, "Do you remember me? I'm Rudy, these are my party members Xandra and Lenore."

"Lenore Purma." The abhuman vanguard added.

"And over there is Alpheba, the witch's apprentice."

"Hmmm, yeah, nicetameetcha." He responded to the pleasantries with a quick return, almost automatic, but he immediately regretted it.

Rudy was emboldened to keep talking. "How long have you been working for Harkness?"

"A few ye- Who says we work for her?"

"You just said that."

Huckabee looked extremely uncomfortable. He felt as if the much younger children were outsmarting him.

"What about the goblins that live here? Does Harkness control them to?" Xandra added pressure to the interrogation.

"No, that's Scratch. I mean... there might have been a monster tamer... or something."

"Monster tamer? There's a monster tamer in the bandit camp?"

"Monster tamers are rare," said the witch apprentice, "it's a bloodline ability. Much like witchcraft."

"Oooh." The kids cooed from the intrigue, Huckabee became increasingly flustered.

"No more questions." He insisted. "Everybody lay down and stare at the ceiling."

Just as they did, the front door swung open. "Everybody get up," Scratch's voice commanded cheerfully, "we're having a reunion party!"

Pouring in came Cobaline and her mother Denise, a few of the original goblin family that had housed Rudy and Xandra, and You There, looking innocuously human in his knight academy uniform.

It did not slip by Rudy that Denise held her daughter firmly away from the schoolboy.

"You know, Rudy and Xandra helped build the old workshops around the cave," Scratch explained, "they're part of a small group of people we've come to know."

"Those of us that lived." Rudy spat.

"Right. So I brought out some of the old group to say hi. We can make it a pleasant evening, swap anecdotes, play boardgames..."

"I don't think they want to talk to us Papa," Mac remarked.

"Well we don't have any board games." He answered.

-

"Rudy, hi!" Little Cobaline ran up to him and made an awkward bow, it was clear that it was something she had been told to do and wasn't practiced in.

Having gotten the formality out of the way she immediately asked what she came there to ask. "Where is Letta now? Is she an adventurer like you?"

"N-no, Letta lives in the orphanage. She would be starting an apprenticeship now." Rudy explained, though he wasn't sure.

"Hi there cutie! Are you Cobaline? Pyuu~" Lenore purred.

She shook her head. "No, just Cobaline, no family name. But my mom's here!" She pointed at her mother, who was keeping an eye on them from a few paces back. She gave a tiny wave.

The human girl didn't have much time to talk, because the goblin family all swarmed them, talking over each other and inquiring about the life of an adventurer.

"Do you have any bread from the city?" "Did you see our new wall?" "We have doggies!" They were eager to reconnect with childhood friends they'd known for two weeks a few months ago.

"That's enough, let me through." Lydia Harkness pushed her in-laws aside to come up to the party.

"Lydia." Xandra stated.

"Xandra." Lydia returned.

"So you liked it here so much you decided to stay."

"We combined forces to survive."

"If I remember, you let us go." Rudy cut through the tension. "You didn't have to do that. Thank you."

"They killed Dave." Xandra whispered angrily.

"The goblins did," he answered, "the bandits made them release us and Letta."

"We have a policy of clemency." Harkness said slowly and enunciated, "we do not kill if we don't have to. However, I am here to tell you-"

"Yes?"

"Do not abuse that good will. If you continue to threaten my family, I won't hesitate to punish you. Am I clear?"

"...yes." Rudy said with a meek tone, his seemingly intimidated tone was partly an act to keep her happy.

The bandit leader stepped aside to let the curious children swarm the out-of-towners. She joined Scratch and Huckabee at the other corner of the room, You There was clinging to his master and whispering continuously into his ear. Every so often Scratch would show interest in what he had to say or nod in understanding.

-

Lenore reveled in the attention. Soon she was regaling the goblins with stories of their adventures.

"And there I was," she mimed her situation heavily, holding up an imaginary shield, "the last vanguard standing, pyuu, the only thing between my comrades, and a deathly storm of shredding thorns."

"It was only a rank E cactipod..." Rudy remarked sheepishly.

But the kids were all fascinated, clinging to her artful performance with their mouths agape.

Alpheba patted Rudy and Xandra on the shoulders and pulled them away while they were distracted.

"Do you feel that?" She said in a soft tone. "Our mana is returning more quickly."

"Now that you mention it, I feel a lot better..." Xandra muttered.

"I should be able to cast Geros' Poison Cloud soon. It's stronger in confined spaces. If you're prepared for it, we can kill their leaders and escape."

"That's daring Alphie." Xandra responded, almost too loud, "you're like an adventurer."

"They said they wouldn't harm us though..." Rudy said hesitantly.

"That's true." Xandra was of two minds.

"Aren't you adventurers? You're supposed to kill goblins and bandits, aren't you? We can't *trust* them."

"Tell me why we had to kill Bill," Xandra was suddenly angry, "can we even trust you?"

"That's-" Alpheba froze up in alarm. "I... I'm just trying to..."

"Alpheba just wants to help, Xandra," Rudy said diplomatically, "don't be like that."

Their secret scheming was interrupted when they were called out by Huckabee.

"What are you lot whispering about?"

"Nothing." Xandra was quick to assert, "we aren't escaping."

Rudy nudged her with his elbow.

Huckabee looked a bit confused. "Yeah, well, good. Witch girl comes with me."

Xandra went to stand in front of her. "What do you want her for?"

Scratch appeared from behind him. "We're just mingling. No good to cluster together, is it? How will you make new friends?"

Although they didn't take hold of her physically, they showed a strong insistence on having her come outside with them, leaving Rudy and Xandra alone.

-

"At that point... all we could do was run." Lenore's storytelling had become more indulgent and over-dramatic with every passing sentence, "as the entire might of the forest banded together, I could feel the magic of the fairies tingling against the back of my ears, pyuu~. We just kept running and didn't look back."

Rudy and Xandra were standing off to the side, just as much part of the audience as the rest.

They kept their eyes straight ahead, looking at the show while they exchanged the occasional word. Mostly to comment upon Lenore Purma's many liberties with the truth.

"Do you remember what I told you, about... my memories?" Rudy whispered to her.

"You said you didn't want to talk about it." She responded.

"Yes, but..."

"But you think the goblin leader might be like you."

He glanced at her with his mouth slightly open. "How did you know?"

She laughed a little. "We've know- *I*'ve known *you* all my life. You used to do the same thing, were you say bizarre things as if they're normal.

And every time he does that you react like-" She pulled a silly exaggerated face, quasi-intrigued and wavering.

"I just... I don't know."

"You told me they spoke a different language in your previous world," she whispered, "if he recognizes Neeponese, that should prove it, shouldn't it?"

He nodded. "You're right, that's a good idea. Thank you."

She looked at Lenore again, "Rudy, a reincarnation from a different world. You realize how that sounds right, mister 'just want to be normal'?

That's the sort of thing that comes with an epic destiny."

"That's why I'm trying to keep it a secret." He said unhappily.

-

Not too long after that, Alpheba returned.

"You were right," she said immediately, "it's safer to let them bring us home."

"What made you change your mind?" Rudy asked.

"Nothing, let's not talk about it anymore."

It was highly suspicious, and the goblin leader and his human looking companion had not come back inside alongside her.

"What did I command you not to do?" The witch's icy voice cut through the cave.

She had arrived in owl form in the promise. After briefly showing herself to her apprentice she had gone downstairs where there were arrangements for her reception.

At the very edge of the dockyard was a hut with a bird entrance where she had her pickings of dignified women's clothing. However, she was not in the mood to show grace for this hospitality.

"Well?" She sneered.

Scratch and the demon stood in front of her like schoolchildren being scolded. "There were... complications." The goblin offered.

"Complications? Hah! How complicated can it be? You have no idea what forces you're meddling with."

"You're right, we don't." Scratch gestured humility with his arms. "If we did, we would be much more able to handle the situation delicately." The small men looked at each other and the demon nodded accordingly. "We want to help you." Scratch said on a transparent helpful tone. "Help us help you."

The witch stretched out her hand, seemingly about to cast some sort of harmful magic, but changed her mind. She brought the hand to her face and massaged the wrinkles in her forehead. "Well, fine."

So they cleared out the space of possible eavesdroppers and found a place to sit.

"You're a clever sort, you understand how and why the Thieves' Guild branches keep secrets from each other." She began.

"Sure. You even put on that tea lady act when humans are present."

"When loose tongues are." She corrected him, "I do not want the smuggling pillar to know about the extend of my magic, they should know just enough to fear me, and no more. As far as they know, my business under the guild's protection is only in the embezzling of construction grants and secret chambers."

"While you're actually..." He petered out the phrase with an expecting tone.

She huffed. "Did you remember my display of transformation magic? I turned you into frogs, didn't I?"

"Well, not me personally." Scratch failed to see the bigger picture or general direction of the conversation.

You There turned to whisper in his ear, bringing his lips much closer than needed. "Master, you should have informed me of this, such a transformation is the mark of an accomplished sage. Witches carry the blessing of Guth, goddess of magic. Transformation magic is their domain, but not to that degree. The ability to invoke all the qualities of a singular species on multiple targets is a tremendous achievement. She must have lived a life of singular devotion to reach that level."

"I see." Scratch nodded, pulling his ear away from the demon's cold lips. "So there was more implied there than the threat."

"I have dedicated my life to the accumulation of magic," she went on, "but still I have not achieved the recognition of the goddess."

She clenched a frail old fist.

"For the past lustrum and a half I have waged war with my sister over control of the witchwood. At my age the specter of death approaches fast, it -excuse me-" she wiped the sweat of her brow "I can no longer afford to be patient."

"A war? This involves sending children out to pick flowers?"

"The feybloom contains the budding essence of fairy-kind itself. Fairies recognize those that have attacked their forest in the past, so a new escort is needed every time."

"Well," Scratch crossed his arms, "that story checks out with what we know."

She was alarmed. "Checks out? Checks out how?"

"Apparently a member of the team had a breakdown and accused your girl of all sorts of nefarious stuff. They chose her side, but the story is out there. I suppose we kill them before they spread it."

Lacrima took in the news and looked pensive for a moment. "That won't be necessary. The bloom contains the boy's blood, I can use it to control them. It would attract unwanted attention to both of us if they died here."

-

"That reminds me," Scratch began, "I hope we can count on you to vote in favor of us."

"What are you talking about now?" The witch sighed.

You There looked equally surprised.

"The knights are everywhere because of us," Scratch explained, "because they've been sent here to deal with the goblin menace. Very soon your fellow leaders are going to wonder if they'd rather have us around or the knights gone, right?"

A look of understanding slowly crept over the woman's face, wrinkle by wrinkle, until it had reached her brow. "I see..."

"Now I know Mabel relies on us. But miss Lacrima, you like us as well don't you? That's why you armed us, as the first line of defense against those fairy creatures."

"Tch." The witch scoffed. "I have my own bodies to fill those suits of armor. You lot prove to me you're worth the trouble." She looked pensive for a moment, then she said, "show your competence by protecting these forges from those brutes pouring in."

"Brutes? What brutes?"

"The underground trolls that have breached your meager walls, had you really not noticed?"

Scratch looked behind him. Nothing was visible through the dense mess of stalagmites, the witch had to have seen it happen from a bird's eye view.

"So then you- Hey wait!" He called out at her as she turned around.

She fluttered her robe and suddenly she was an owl again, flying off into the night.

A chorus of triumphant animalistic grunts echoed through the cavern, close enough to be heard.

"Let's go get the fighters," Scratch ordered his demon, "we have to evacuate."

The bandits were pulled away from guarding the adventurers to protect the goblins from the wild trolls.

They would never be able to slay the horde by themselves, but they could hold the line while the smelters and harbor goblins escaped.

Though boisterous, the trolls did not pursue fleeing enemies, so everybody made it out pretty much unhurt in the long run.

Despite the relaxed security Xandra's group did not break out and was retrieved for an escort the next day.

-

"It's a dog-sled," Second explained to the leaving party with conflicted pride, "because we have the legs of multiple dogs we can move heavy things."

"These are wolves though?" Xandra stated, half questioningly.

"These are definitely wolves." Alpheba added.

Those leaving where the adventurers and their client, alongside Scratch, Jasper, and Ada to escort them. They would be traveling on Second's new creation, a wood and leather sled pulled by half a dozen dogs.

"Second, you tested these, right?" Scratch asked more privately, while inspecting the smooth wooden runners underneath the platforms, "can they really do the, you know, hobbles?"

Second shook his head, "only smooth paths."

"So we'll have to take the carriage route then. I didn't want to show it to the kids, but I suppose with the speed we're going they won't be drawing up any maps."

Before he stepped onto the sled Second held onto his arm. "Again? You're letting them go again? They feel so safe doing whatever they want to us."

Scratch touched his brother's cheek. "You're going to have to stomach it, okay? After today you won't have to look at them anymore."

"Unless they come back again."

"If they come back again, we will kill them." He assured him.

He took the reins of the young wolves and flicked it. "Hi-ya!"

Nothing happened.

The canines just looked at him as if he was crazy.

Then he leaned over the front and asked nicely. "Could you please bring us through the mud-trail? We gotta drop of these kids and their-"

Immediately they sprinted off, causing all those on the sled to have to hang on for dear life.

The speed of the vehicle, the lack of coordination of the dogs, and the uneven-ness of the path caused them to jump around like an agitated animal.

At times, the sled was airborne for seconds at a time, catching wind at the underside.

The cat girl had herself wrapped around the bell jar with the precious cargo and had to be held on to by her teammates.

-

Eventually, however, they did arrive at the edge of the goblin's territory. At a spot much closer to Eston than where they'd entered it.

"Hop off," Scratch commanded, "I think I'm going to puke."

He wasn't quite able to expel anything from his stomach, but he did lean against a tree trying.

The warg wolves in the sled made a barking laughing sound among themselves over their leader's helper's weakness.

Rudy walked up to him and, after breathing in deeply, offered the words "Byōkidesu ka?"

"What?" Scratch had no idea what he meant, "is that a magic spell?"

"Uh. No. Never mind."

"Listen," he turned around to address the whole group, "you've been told this before, but I want to reiterate. Don't come back to the Promise. We can't be nice with you anymore when you do, I can promise (hehe) you that."

"It's the same for us," Xandra clenched her fist, "don't think just because you didn't kill us once that doesn't mean you're nice guys. We remember what you did to David! To Theresa!"

Ada damn near screamed, "Everybody wanted to kill you! You're lucky Papa wanted us to let you go!"

"And you have to do what he says, don't you?" Xandra said challengingly.

"I don't have to. You-"

"That's enough heartfelt goodbyes," Scratch decided, "we're going back. Ada, you can try taking the reins this time."

The two girls stuck their tongues out at each other and the groups split up.

A week or two went by trying to adjust to not having access to the harbor town and smelters.

With all the goblins on the surface, it became clear just how many of them there were now. They made the small Promise look like the shopping district of a busy metropolis.

They could be kept busy for a while, furnishing the newly cleared out space around the top of the elevator and creating new bedding for the growing wolf pack.

But eventually, a way had to be found to win back the lost level.

-

"They're... my family?" Bree looked out hesitantly over the edge of the cargo platform.

Everybody living and working there had been safely escorted out, but the trolls had not fully claimed the cavern insides. They were loitering about the space were they had broken through the wall. On occasion one would break off to venture towards the smelters, but never for long.

"We want to know what they want," Scratch explained, "just try talking to them."

The surface raised troll had reached almost full height, being as tall as a human in her hunched over form with hands that could completely envelop her adoptive father's torso.

"Your father and I are right behind you if anything goes wrong. So are your brothers and sister." Lydia told her. "Don't be scared."

"What if they hate me?" The troll asked.

"No skin off your back if they hate you," Scratch stated authoritatively, "you are too important to let some cavemen affect you."

"They will not." Her mother insisted.

"Are we gonna go down or what?" Ada tapped her foot ostentatiously on the ground, showing impatience.

"We'll go down, we wouldn't want to keep the trolls waiting."

-

The family kept a distance from Bree so that she could confront the trolls herself.

It functioned as a small lesson in stealth as Lydia showed them what path and shelter to take to remain unseen.

On the wooden pathway towards the shattered wall they came across the first troll. It was a male, he had large tusks and stood on all fours like Bree.

Having explored the space at his own pace and finding nothing that interested him he was tearing at the boardwalk with a bored expression.

"H-hi." The surface raised troll tried introducing herself.

The troll man looked up. He had a sort of surprised look on his face, sniffed the air, and began to hop in a circle around here.

At all times he only made grunting noises.

"He... can't talk." She said to the darkness behind her.

"Hwa. Haa!" The beast hopped ahead of her, back towards her, and ahead of her. It was like he was gesturing for her to follow him.

"Go then." Scratch whispered. "He's introducing you to his group."

"We can't protect her against the whole group." Lydia told him. But they were already on their way.

-

The speed at which the trolls bounded forwards the others had to run to keep up.

Eventually they could see the space opening up and the two trolls joining a mass of close to thirty trolls. Each was sitting away from the others, but they were sitting close enough together to be a collective.

"What's happening, do we attack?" Felix asked, readying a piece of razor wire.

"Shh. Your little sister is making first contact." Scratch hissed.

They were standing with their backs against a row of stalagmites, daring only to take little peeks past the edge.

As soon as Bree and her guide arrived at the group, a bunch of trolls stepped out of the way, letting through and older specimen covered with scars on his arms.

"Hello, my name is-"

*whack!*

The male started off the interaction with a mighty backhand, smacking his enormous hand against her shoulder and staggering her.

Before it was clear to anybody what had damn well happened he grabbed her shoulder and drove her face into the jagged stone floor.

Then he proceeded to sit on her.

Some of the surrounding trolls made a screeching noise, but mostly it didn't seem to elicit much of a reaction.

The older troll stood up off her and walked away.

"We have to rescue her." Felix strung the wire tightly between his hands when suddenly Bree stormed past his stalagmite.

None of the trolls had tried to stop her as she bolted away.

-

They found her curled up next to a smoldering oven almost at the other side of the cavern.

Felix immediately embraced her to heal the wounds.

She had a cut on her face and a bruise on her shoulder, but that wasn't what she was crying about.

"W-why doh-hon't they want me?" Tears streamed down her dark grey cheeks. "What's wrong with me?"

"Bree, nothing's wrong with you. They're..." Lydia looked at Scratch for support, but he threw up his hands in defeat.

"We'll kill 'em." Ada swore. "I swear We'll kill 'em."

Demonic Subversion

Among the different species of demon, there are many that operate by seducing prominent individuals to evil.

The guild does not accept quests that violate the law of the area or cause undue suffering and disorder. For personal quests adventurer's must use their own judgment to determine when a quest giver has fallen to evil, and oppose them if necessary. Any party that fails to do so will be considered culpable.

-

There are a number of symptoms of corruption that adventurers can use to alert themselves to possible demonic influences:

1. Unusual behavior. Corrupted individuals may exhibit dulled or heightened emotions, reacting to mundane occurrences with great theater or to shocking news with relative detachment. Manic laughter is a common giveaway.

2. Strange Company. Many demons have the ability to take human form. When a ruler begins to take counsel from an outsider, unknown by all, or pays regular visits to some unknown destination, this can indicate unvetted parties taking an indue influence in their affairs.

3. Physical deformation. A person altered by magic may experience discolored eyes, veins of unnatural colors visible through the skin, tumors and rashes, or radical departures from the humanoid body plan. If there is no rational explanation for such an altered appearance, the individual should not be trusted.