They met the next day. Brewary and Demit still had some resentment, and an awkward silence hung in the air. Demit took charge as usual.
"Let's go kill some of Broski's Goblins"
"Walk around Old City, maybe half hour more". Jakson led the way. There was a hillock with trees that broke New City boundaries, allowing a quiet team to enter. By using the hillock as a base, they could range into the City or catch passing patrols. New City Goblins were almost organized. Goblins 1 and 2 were on the tops of buildings, with crossbows, helmets and leather panel armour. They moved quickly, darting in and out of the tops of buildings, familiar with the route. Below them, Goblins 3 and 4 carried shields, swords and wore plate and helmets. Goblin 5 was in charge. Its plate was fastened with straps, not rope. It was even covered at the back. It carried a spear and a dagger in its belt. Behind it walked something new. It was larger and only wore a helmet. It carried a large club.
"Hobgoblin", whispered Roland. A plan was set. They would stalk and ambush the group from behind. Brewary was to follow a certain distance with Demit (which she said without even looking at him), while the rest moved ahead. Roland was to choose his first target based on the situation. Jakson would Backstab the Hobgoblin. It didn't matter whether it was successful or not, because after the shot and attack, they would run and lead the goblins to Brewary and Demit. Once the fight connected, Roland and Jakson would insert themselves where necessary.
Roland's first arrow struck Goblin 1. The leather panels stopped the training arrows from going all the way in, so it would die struggling and bleeding from the spleen (if it had one). But there was no time to see it happen. Jakson used Backstab into the Hobgoblin's back. It lashed in reflex as Jakson jumped back and dashed towards Roland. By then, Roland's second arrow was ready. His bodkin flew for Goblin 5 but the thrashing Hobgoblin caught it in its arm. He turned and ran. Angry noises were made by the goblins and an order was barked. The chase was on. A dart narrowly missed him and cracked off the pavement. Next corner. Ah shit, they're in the next. Damn, Jakson's fast.
Rounding the next corner, Brewary was waiting to hit the first thing to pass. Demit was behind him. Jakson had already vanished into the maze of turns and alleys. Brewary's Rage Blow took Goblin 3 in the helmet. The Zweihander sunk down as deep as the neck. Demit and Brewary stepped around together to meet Goblins 4 and 5 and the fight connected. Demit's Smash met Goblin 4's shield with a splintering crack and Brewary used Wind to catch Goblin 5's spear. It was better than the Old City Goblins so it moved its head slightly and caught the Zweihander tip with its helmet. Roland repositioned and loosed. His arrow bounced off Goblin 5's plate and it cackled. A dart struck Brewary. He grunted. Roland shot at Goblin 2 but it moved out of the way to reload. Heavy steps rounded the corner and there came the Hobgoblin, bleeding from the arm and back. It roared and thrashed again. Apparently, Jakson had circled around and caught the Hobgoblin the second time around with a Backstab. Roland made the mistake of firing at it. While his arrow did hit it in the shoulder, Brewary was hit by another dart. This time he yelled in pain. Still, his chain mail took most of the impact and he stood his ground, locking weapons and slashing at Goblin 5. Goblin 4's shield splintered after taking too many Smash so Demit used another and caught it in the face. It fell to the side to take the last Smash which caved in the side of its head.
"Relocate. Get up there, kill what's firing at us", said Demit to Roland. He turned to find a place to climb. She grunted as her jacket took a dart. That made 2 people bleeding out slowly. Where is the bastard? The Hobgoblin, not finding Jakson, advanced to the group. Brewary aimed a Rage Blow that managed to catch the spear and snap off its head. Goblin 5 leaped back and pulled out its dagger. It took a few steps back, letting the Hobgoblin lead with a swing. Brewary met it with a grunt and a Wind that caught its face. Demit took on Goblin 5. She kept it away by using the length of her staff. Jakson reappeared and tried to Backstab but it dodged and cut Jakson. Roland had found a half broken staircase. He went up a floor and found a hole in the roof. Looking out, he saw Goblin 2, aiming at the fight below. It was quite hidden, concealed in a broken section in a roof. From below, it was only visible when it popped out to aim. From the roofs, only its helmet could be seen. Roland selected a bodkin. It punched through the helmet and head, pinning Goblin 2 to a roof beam. He pulled out his third bodkin and aimed for the head of the Hobgoblin. With Quick-eye, there was no missing. The Bodkin drove into the Hobgoblin's neck. Roland took its head (and attached bodkin) off with a Rage Blow. Kicking Demit and giving Jakson another deep cut, Goblin 5 ran. Roland's final bodkin caught it in the thigh. The other 3 came up and ganged up on it before it could screech for help.
"Take bag and hide", said Jakson. Demit made the signs for the dead as quickly as she could. Bags were grabbed and Jakson led them a few streets down into another fairly-intact house.
"Me first", insisted Jakson. Demit casted Cure. He put a finger to his lips, then climbed up to the beams of the house, peeking outside through a hole. Roland stood beside a window frame and peeked out every few seconds, arrow ready. Darts were removed with stifled grunts and moans. More Cure followed. Demit was rationing, counting down the seconds. The bleeding on her face from the kick was wiped off, as it had already stopped. She stuffed the bandage down her dart wound and pressed, grimacing in pain. Brewary needed quite a long dose of Cure.
"Their crossbows got kick", she said. Roland nodded and Jakson hissed for quiet. Pattering feet could be heard. Brewary froze so his chainmail wouldn't rattle. Demit lay flat and slow belly crawled to a darker corner. Jakson dropped from his perch and Roland aimed out the window and loosed. 2 gurgles could be heard. Some rummaging was heard and Jakson poked his head through the doorway.
"They follow blood." he gestured with his head that they got moving. He had the 2 dead goblin bags in his hand. Leaving, Roland saw the blood trail from Brewary. He realised that the Armoured Goblin was higher ranked and that the crossbow goblins prioritized protecting it. It was also a better fighter than Old City Goblins and had scored hits alongside the darts. Any other class other than a Warrior would have stopped fighting from the pain and get killed.
Jakson stopped the group. A search party was following the blood trail. Thankfully, Jakson never led them down that same trail. While it was the shortest route to the exit to the hillock, it was also the route the search party took. Demit was bouncing on the balls of her feet. 'We can take em', her face seemed to say. The search party was too close for speaking. She nudged Roland with her staff, suggesting Roland should shoot first, then the rest charged. Brewary and Roland looked at Jakson, who was very carefully peeking through the corner. He nodded. They lay down their bags gently. Roland tiptoed, arrow nocked. He waited for Jakson to creep up and Backstab Goblin 3. It made enough of a sound as it died immediately. Goblin 4 rounded the corner to look, only to take Roland's arrow to the face. Brewary and Demit, waiting for Roland firing as signal to go, rounded the corner but it was over. The search party was only 4, consisting the 2 killed while hiding to heal and the 2 just ambushed. They quickly emptied several bags into each other. There were too many to carry. Following Jakson, they left for the hillock to be concealed in the trees.
"We're a bag short", said Demit.
"There was the goblin that shot Brewary", answered Roland.
"I pinned its head to a wooden beam. I'm so sorry for that, by the way", Roland said to Brewary.
"You did your best, Honey. But you got it in the end, right? Look at you taking your time, what a tease."
"I go take bag?", suggested Jakson.
"Oh would you, Sugar? That goblin better pay up for having at me without consent", he said, laughing softly.
"After". He uncorked his water skin (Roland could tell which it was by now) and drank. The rest did the same, and they ate while watching their surroundings.
"Not picking a fight", said Demit. She held up her palms.
"Seriously. Not picking a fight. I just gotta ask… are you using your defence budget?"
"Woman, how could you suggest such a thing?"
"Like I said, not picking a fight. But I do know where you live. C'mon, I just gotta know". Brewary told the amount of the fifth portion of every distributed coin he received, including the price deducted from his Zweihander, and the one time the blade needed blacksmith work after he missed and hit a stone wall with the cutting edge. With some estimation and mental arithmetic, the numbers checked out. Roland and Jakson nodded too. Jakson even had it calculated to the copper.
"Then how do you afford that place?"
"Things work out when you're among the finest men, and that-", said Brewary, wagging a finger at everyone,
"-is none of your business". Demit shook her head.
"I'm sorry, man. Just… I'm sorry". She bit into her food, eyes down.
"We all good now?", asked Roland. There was a bit of silence.
"Oh Paprika darling, I can't stay mad at you". He got up, scooted Roland aside, sat beside and hugged her.
"I'm sorry for all the things I said too", he said, placing some smoked meat in her food cloth. With a snigger, Jakson uncorked his alcohol skin, took a swig and passed it around. It was the second skin of last night's wine, slightly off-taste. After the meal, he left to take the last bag, accompanied by Roland. They returned with 2. Roland had shot a crossbow Goblin left behind to scout the area and raise an alarm.
"Round 2?", a happy Brewary suggested.
"Out of Cure", answered Demit. After playfully blaming Roland for taking too long to find the crossbow goblins and using up Demit's Cure, they left for Alterna.
Old City goblins yielded 8-10 silver for every 4 on average. New City Goblins yielded twice that amount. They were earning well, much to their delight. Eventually, they learned the lay of the City. The closest areas to the centre of New City were maintained by the goblins with ramshackle repairs using masonry and wood. Those were the bases, fortresses and breeding grounds. As long as they kept a certain distance, they fought patrols and guard posts.
The need for armour and skills was too great so as soon as it was financially possible, Brewary settled for a thinner padded jacket under the chainmail. He had padded hardened leather bracers, shin and arm guards. It was still pitiful protection for melee but far better than his starting gear. A helmet was forced on him, which he protested for about half a day before giving in. After much argument and switching between vendors and blacksmiths, he wore a Sallet, in which he insisted that a red plume feather is added. At the guild, he learned Forward Thrust, a one-handed thrust with a long reach. He said that if aimed correctly, he'd outrange the Armoured Goblin's spear.
Roland switched out all his training arrows. In his quiver was a sheaf of 20 broadheads and 4 bodkins. Slightly to his frustration, he had to use up his bodkins every time, which dug a bit into his finances. Still, it wasn't as great a need as Brewary's metal armour. The most expensive thing was changing his bow to a Longbow. It was brand new and it broke his bank. It also allowed broadheads to enter goblin chainmail. Bodkins no longer occasionally bounced off Armoured Goblins, though it didn't always go all the way in. He learned Penetrator, which allowed bodkins to have greater penetration power. He explained its downside was that it only worked on bodkins. Also, before anyone gets any bright ideas about 'AP rounds', one wouldn't want to shoot things that had too little armour because the arrow would go right through, defeating the purpose of an arrow being stuck in the target to impede its movements.
Jakson took a particularly savage blow to his thigh from a spear, which needed longer exposure of Cure. He also snapped his blade on the Armoured Goblin that speared him. He changed his whole armour to match his leather and metal bracers. Jakson was the first in the team to have metal plates, given the low maintenance of his lightweight thief gear. Roland noticed he preferred to run away and come back in ambush, unlike Team Manato's Thief who closed in, dodged then used Backstab. Jakson's new dagger was also brand new and tapered, called a Baselard. His new skill was Sneaking, which he demonstrated by having them turn their backs. A few seconds later, he whistled and they turned around. He had walked quite a distance without making a sound.
"Won't the metal compromise your stealth, Broski?". Demit bought a brand new Gambeson, a jacket that was even thicker padded than her previous one. On her right sleeve, she sewed on three yellow chevrons, 'because it looked familiar'. Her new skill was Counter-strike, which stored the momentum of a weapon she blocks with her staff then releasing it back.
"No, if not touch", he moved his arms and legs. The pads were smaller, thinner and segmented so the edges would not touch each other. It wouldn't protect as well as proper armour but Jakson couldn't afford to have the rustle of the padded jacket or the clinking of metal. Thief class was meant to be as quiet as possible. He decorated slightly as well. On his bracers, he painted the three white lines from his clothing when he first arrived in Grimgar.
They settled back into routine, operating in Damrow's New City. It was their little secret place. Other Volunteer Soldiers did not venture that way. On some days, they could hear Ranta in the distance while walking outside Alterna. Apparently Team Manato still operated Old City.