A scream broke the early dawn silence. "MY TOES?! WHERE ARE MY TOES?!"
The man screeched louder and louder, as if his cries would bring his toes back. By now, the rest of the village was awake, many of them rushing to the poor man's house. Others took no notice. He probably drank a bit too much last night, some of them thought, Or he's just insane.
But there were whispers among others. Fearfully telling a tale passed down from generation to generation. The Legend of the Toe Goblins.
Toe Goblins have one goal in life. Steal toes and, as a crude attempt to fit in with the other races, graft them to their own feet. Because despite their name, Toe Goblins naturally have no toes... or so the legend says.
No one has actually captured a Toe Goblin, or even so much as gotten a good look at one. What is known about the creatures has been pieced together from short sightings, and tales from the now toe-less.
So when the man woke up, and discovered his missing toes, people were skeptical. Toe Goblins are just a legend. Right?
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Sven grinned, showing a mouth full of crooked yellow teeth.
"We did it boys!" he shouted, jumping around the campsite, patting the other Toe Goblins on the back. Reaching into the small pouch on his belt, he carefully retrieved its contents – ten freshly severed human toes.
The four other Goblins started jumping around and chanting, "TOES! TOES! TOES!". Still grinning, Sven tossed a toe to each member of his Foot, but pocketed the rest. It's only fair, Sven thought, I'm the Big Toe. I get a larger cut.
Sven's crew had just pulled off their riskiest heist yet. The local village of Norfolkdor had armed sentries, guard dogs, and patrols in the nearby woods. With the edge of the Great War less than a hundred miles to the North, small villages couldn't be too careful.
Unfortunately, for Sven, this made his job a whole lot harder. Just planning that heist had taken over a week, plus the three nights of false starts. Norfolkdor was smart. They changed up their patrol patterns and sentry locations every few days. This simple precaution had almost cost Sven and the rest of the Goblins their freedom.
However, now that the Toe Goblins knew the village and its routines, they planned to make at least a few more trips. Once the village gets suspicious, Sven's Foot will move on to the next town.
As long as they were out there, toes would never be safe.