Out of the corner of her eye Holly Bloodhand watched the little goblin scamper away in what he surely must have thought was a stealthy manner, but which actually drew the sideward eyes of every person in the tavern. The goblin seemed none the wiser, but then, patrons at this tavern tended to have a great deal of experience with subterfuge. Subtlety, however, was most definitely not an innate goblin trait.
Nor it seemed, despite this particular goblin's own personal experience with Holly, one they readily learned.
She yanked the dagger out of the parchment. Absently twirling the dagger with one hand, she picked up the parchment with the other and grinned. She glanced into the darkest corner of the tavern and nodded meaningfully toward the seat across from her.
A man stepped out of the shadows and quickly made his way to the seat.
"So. It's all in place, then?" Holly asked.
Caleb nodded nervously. "The crews are assembling as we speak. They should be ready soon. The goblins are starting to sound a call for help, too."
Holly laughed softly. She slapped the parchment back down, and Caleb looked at it.
"The red ink is a nice touch," he said.
"Aye," Holly said with a smirk. "A bit o' the dramatic always be the way te go with goblins."
She looked down at the parchment... then gently peeled the corner and lifted to reveal another sheet lightly adhered beneath it. It was a map centered on Buccaneer's Den with small notations by Vesper, Minoc, and Cove--areas in which Holly still maintained hidden, waiting forces--as well as other various notations around some other cities and a big, unmistakable red X over the island of Pitmuck.
"Not that it would matter. Pity the little feller scampered off so quick though. Most goblins can't read and I didn't even get to pull the map out."
She looked back to Caleb. "Keep yer ears open, and make sure ye get the right word te the right folk. We gotta play this right."
Caleb nodded.
Holly grinned. "Fools'll never know what hit 'em!"
