Scout approached the large tent in the center of the Blackwings camp, avoiding eye contact with the other mercenaries as she did so. The sun had set once more, and the camp was alight with flaming braziers, dark smoke curling into the air above them. Several men were patrolling the perimeter barricade of the camp; Prowler was always paranoid that they'd be attacked by monsters in the dark, and committed at least a third of the Blackwings to simple patrols.

They universally hated it, but one did not question Prowler when he gave you an order. Two burly men stood out in front of Prowler's tent, sneering at her as she lifted the flap and entered. The strong smell of incense hit her nostrils, a familiar scent that brought back memories of better days. A long table stretched from the entrance of the tent all the way to the back, and was topped with several different scrolls, documents, and other scattered parchments. White whispy trails of smoke flowed up from four different lit incense sticks, the smoke collecting near the top of the tent.

Scout had to suppress her damned curiosity as she saw the assortment of papers.

Prowler never allowed anyone to glimpse their contents, always leaving the paperwork to be dealt with by himself alone. As such, only a single high backed wooden chair sat at the end of the table opposite of her. Scout found herself wondering where it was that Prowler slept, for other than the table and chair, there was no bedroll in the tent. Did he sleep in his chair? It was possible, but that wouldn't have been comfortable. He certainly didn't look tired now as he sat straight-backed in that seat, visored helm staring down at the different papers before him.

Prowler leaned forward as he saw her, armored elbows scraping against the hardwood of the table.

"You feel well rested?" He asked.

Scout merely nodded in response. He never let her go out scouting when she wasn't at her best.

"Good, I have a secondary task for you for the coming few days." Prowler said, leaning back in his chair once more "I want you to find that mad man… don't kill him or even interact with him. Simply see what it is he is doing, then leave. I want you to do this every night you go scouting. I must know why he is this deep in the frontier." He said.

Scout shivered, and opened her mouth to object but caught herself. Prowler would get mad if she insisted on not finding the madman. Few people were as terrifying, and these days Prowler seemed to be on the fringes of true madness. She did not want to push her luck today. Indeed when he saw her open her mouth, he stiffened, one of his gauntlets closing tight. Was he imagining crushing her throat if she spoke back to him? Scout banished such thoughts, Prowler may not have been who he once was, but he'd never hurt her…

"Yes sir." She told him, bowing her head.

"Good." He said curtly "Now then, how many goblins did you say were in these woods?"

Scout took a deep breath "It's just an estimate… but sir, I think we might be dealing with a few thousand goblins at least. They don't seem to be working together, which is to our advantage. If a goblin lord rises up though… They could pose a serious problem."

It was true. She'd been scouting around here for a long while, and had seen several hundred footprints of tiny goblin feet move throughout these woods, all leading to the mouths of different caverns. She could have been wrong about there being thousands, but Prowler believed that the caves below were all interconnected. If that was true, then there could be countless goblin nests right below their feet.

"Yes… I could believe it." Prowler said "I'm not too sure about thousands, but you've rarely been wrong before. There's also the fact that these particular frontier gobs are so brazen that they stomp around at all times of the day. I've seen their patrols on the borders of the forest in broad daylight. They're watching us. I've seen hobgoblins too, and wolf riders among them. We've had to have slaughtered a couple hundred by now… but those ones were in chance encounters, rather than a full-blown battle." He leaned forward again "Why are there so many here I wonder?"

Scout shook her head "Your guess is as good as mine sir, but considering just how many gobs there are in these woods, I think that madman may already be dead."

Prowler nodded "Maybe… but someone who could clear out a goblin cave by himself and spot you in the darkness is likely hardier than that. He is still alive."

"I'll see if I can find him." Scout said.

"Good. Like I said, just observe him. I want to know what he is doing. See if you can spot any guild tags on his person as well. Last thing we need around here is nosy adventurers." He said, an edge of spite in his voice.

Prowler hated the guild with a passion and considering the reason why they turned him away… she did not blame him for his hate.

"Do you know where they keep getting the women to swell their numbers?" He asked suddenly, tone flat once more.

Scout shook her head "No, There aren't any villages or even roads around here. As far as I know, we are the only people to come this far out into the wilds. I don't think that they send out raiding parties… the nearest village is a hundred miles from here." She finished.

Prowler crossed his arms and leaned back "Yes… and if you remember, those people hadn't so much as seen a goblin since settling there. Their elder told me that when we were trading for bread. The goblins have no need to raid for women or food in these woods. Yet, those women had to come from somewhere right?"

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Scout nodded emphatically "Yes, maybe there are settlements on the other side of the forest?"

"I don't think so. These woods have been scouted out before we showed up… and the wilds stretch all the way to the Spineback mountains."

Scout almost gaped. That was a thousand miles of potentially infested woodland. Noting her shock, Prowler chuckled.

"Makes you wonder what our employer is looking for eh?" He said "I think I've figured it out… but it's just a feeling. Know this Scout, if it is what I think it is, then we're betraying our benefactor to take it for ourselves."

Scout took a step back "But you never- I mean, you don't go back on your word to those who hire us, you never have."

"Some things are worth breaking your honor for. Not that we're the best of people to begin with!" Prowler laughed, smashing a gauntleted fist against his table and causing it to shake.

That had to be the hardiest table in all the world, she'd seen Prowler kill a man with less effort. He really was losing himself if he wasn't keeping his word anymore. Maybe it was time for her to leave the Blackwings… Like Prowler had wanted her to do before his madness became worse. She stiffened at the thought. He'd get better, he always did. Ever since she was little he'd fought his way back from insanity into being a good man again. Prowler just needed more rest.

"Using guild terminology… what level do you think our mad man is at?" Prowler asked, his laugh trailing off.

Scout considered for a moment before answering "I haven't seen all of what he can do, but if he can spot me and stay on my trail… he has to be a high-level ranger, maybe level seventeen. If he cleared out that cave by himself then that means he has some levels in fighter… no, not fighter, barbarian for sure. He was enraged to the point that he frothed at the mouth."

Prowler nodded at her estimate "I've seen Holom do that when he gets mad. The guild would have certainly called him a barbarian."

Scout gulped.

"What? What is on your mind?" Prowler asked.

"Well… no offense sir, but what would the guild call your class?" She asked.

That damned curiosity again, it was going to get her into trouble. Scout did want to hear what Prowler would have been class-wise, had the guild actually registered him instead of turning him away. Instead of shouting at her, he put his elbows on the table, and seemed to consider. She brightened at his reaction, he was getting better after all!

"I'm not sure myself… but I don't think they would have any classes that quite fit what I am." He said, visored green eyes meeting her own "I think I'll have to come up with a name for it myself I suppose. I'm confident I can homebrew a neat title of it. Now, back to business," He continued in a tired voice "Aside from the goblins, how many other monsters inhabit these woods?"

"I haven't come across any others sir. It's only these giant scattered goblin tribes and normal animals."

Prowler paused again, looking down at the table before finally saying "Perhaps they were driven out by the goblins? A rare occurrence, considering that they're basically at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to non prayer characters. Their great numbers here and the gobs surprising cunning would prove formidable to any higher tier monster if they worked together. Yet, you say that they are seperate tribes… maybe they had joined together to push out the other creatures at one point, but only for that purpose." Prowler stretched and gave out a loud yawn "It is going to be a real pain killing them all ourselves, but that was a part of what we were paid to do. Of course, if my hunch is correct on our employer's true goal, we may not have to bother cleaning out all the goblins."

"Have you made your decision on making this a permanent base for the Blackwings sir? Become mercenary frontiersman like you said?" She asked.

"I'm leaning toward that yes. This job could take us potentially years, and those cobbled together sticks outside won't do for such a long encampment."

"What if the guild sends people out here?" Scout asked. "I mean, if they catch wind of all the goblins infesting this forest then they'll send people to clear it out. Maybe even take whatever it is that our employer hired us to find. There's this one adventurer I heard of that would probably bee-line it out here just to kill as many gobs as he can." She said, trailing off as she saw Prowler stiffen in his seat.

She regretted uttering the words as Prowler slowly stood up, armored fists clenched at his sides.

"Then we kill them! This is our job, we don't need guild sops soaking up all our coin!"

Scout took a step back as Prowler's breathing grew labored, his right hand shaking. He had been fine just a moment ago… Scout cursed herself for asking it.

"I'll kill them all..." He began muttering to himself "Kill them, kill them, kill them! It will be mine I say! They won't take it from me!"

Scout took another step back and Prowler's eyes shot up to meet hers. He shook once, twice, then took a deep breath, sitting back down in his chair with his hands on his helmet.

"I am sorry. My temper is short and the fuse is easily lit these days. Go and do what I set out for you." He said solemnly.

"Prowler..." Scout whispered, taking a step toward him.

"I said go!" He shouted at her, pointing a finger to the flap.

She didn't hesitate, and ran out of the tent, tears trailing her cheeks. The guards that had been standing by in front of the tent laughed at her as she went, and she cursed them for it. Scout found her tent, donned her body glove, and set out into the dark night.