RP:Gorznahk starts to organise his people

This is part of the Capture of Kregus story arc.

Entering Mgez' Pub

[You have entered... a goblin bar. Yes, mayhem and chaos are parts of the decor here inside this tavern. Glass shards and pieces of furniture are strewn about, as are some 'other' unidentified pieces of limbs that you don't care to wish to look at any closer. A gruff looking barkeep looks at you as he spits into a mug, though oddly doesn't wipe out the saliva. Overhearing another goblin yell for a drink, you find out his name is Mgez. At the back of the room is a board for notes, though one can only imagine what it might read having been down here amongst this rabble so long. A goblin barmaid, Chez, is here. Othak is here.]

Gorznahk strides into the tavern, city uproar be damned. He didn't get to be where he was without learning to sneak proper-like. His scarred visage is covered in warpaint, his spiked armour as menacing as the grey pits of his eyes. He glares at the patrons "Listen up, ya maggot-eaters! Gorznahk is here, and Gorznahk fears no pale Hyumins! If ya want to be slaves ta hyumins, me and mine will be feastin' on ya as well! If ya got the grit ta be a hard boy, folla me." So saying, he strides back out as the sound of guards grows closer

Othak had been in the middle of chugging his third mug of ale and he slammed it down on the bartop with a loud belch surfacing from the bottom of his stomach, turning that eerie red gaze toward the goblin that spoke. "Ya mus be outta yer head." was all that was said to that, though he had gotten the same idea once he heard the news of the humans taking over Kregus.

Gorznahk stops and turns to face the goblin which spoke out. He stares him down, mad eyes glaring "If ya aint got the grit, go bake tha hyumin's bread, and fatten yerself up so's ya make a good meal when I eats ya, thinskin." He spits on the ground and exits. With the humans already on the move, he has no luxury of time to waste

Within Kregus

[Straight and seemingly endless, this earthen tunnel stretches in both directions without a change in gradient or angle, unmarked either by branching passages or unnatural decoration. The only remarkable feature are the thousands of worms which seem to coat the walls and ceiling all around you, writhing slowly and making no sound as they crawl atop one another for purchase on the packed dirt they call home.]

Gorznahk is striding with great speed for a goblin, bypassing main tunnels and using the smaller ones to get to his destination, one of the tunnels where word has reached him that goblin miners are working with the invaders to make the ceilings higher. He too has a lesson to deliver to the goblin people.

Othak stormed out after Gorznahk with heavy footsteps, how dare he say that he didn't 'have the grit' "Ye be holding yourself!" He called out in a gruff voice as he followed the other goblin, grumbling something about "Da'n fast walkin' no good..." before the rest became incoherent with every stomp he took to follow after the goblin.

Gorznahk ignores the other goblin until he approaches the point where the other goblin's noise could spoil his ambush. He whips around, razor-jagged shield levelled in the path of the goblin's throat "Shut yer jabber, or I'll shut it fer ya. Yer either with me, or yer a corpse. Which is it?!" Drool starts to form at the corner of Gorznahk's mouth. It is clear that he has dinner plans involving the bodies of any who oppose him.

Othak shifted and let his lip curl up in a snarl, hands clenching and un-clenching on the ragged wooden clubs handle, this goblin irritated him to no end but those red eyes narrow with thought. " Wha' do ya 'eed meh to do?" He practically spat out.

Gorznahk lets his lips widen into a sharkish grin. The oversized goblin leers "D'ya need me ta tell ya? We's killin' hyumins. I hope ya sneak good, or yer'll be a pincushion. Bastids got archers." He continues down the tunnel, shield in hand, but sword still hooked in place on his back. He reaches the small cavern where the workers have commenced the arduous process of hacking away at the solid granite. They'd be at it for a couple of weeks at least. Whichever bastid was leading these invaders, he knew long-term planning. Gorznahk stops and gauges the situation. It is a small tunnel, so there are only four guardsmen protecting the Larketian engineers and only two archers attached to the unit. Still, two archers was two too many. As a handful of scrawny goblins finally caught up with him and the as-yet-unnamed one with attitude, he steps back and whispers. "Right. I'll take tha archers ta start with. You lot keep tha soldiers occupied."

The Larketian soldiers, for their part, are wary. News of a rebellion has them on edge, and they are constantly scanning their surrounds for signs of trouble. There are numerous torches around the walls to keep their space well illuminated

Othak had, for once in his life, swiftly followed the goblin in front of him. His face breaking out into a fox like grin as he slowly un hooks the ragged wooden club to rest his weight on it once they had stopped, listening to the words of the goblin before nodding curtly towards him, " Righ'. Sol'iers occupied." He slowly whispered back before casting his gaze towards the scrawny goblins behind him, that fox like grin only growing wider to reveal uneven, pointy teeth. " Le's ge' goin' then." He almost raised his voice as he lifted the club over his shoulder before eyeballing the humans, his gaze scanning; taking in every detail.

Gorznahk doesn't trust to luck. His first action as he bounds down the tunnel to where the workers are is to grab hold of a goblin miner in passing, shield ripping into its armpit while his free right hand encloses around the miner's neck. Using the shield to help control the miner, Gorznahk's movements have him barrelling towards the archers even as the scrawny goblin followers rush the men-at-arms, bearing rusty knives, cleavers, and short spears formed of broken weapons from the recent war. The archer's eyes snap onto Gorznahk and in an instant two arrows are flying into the path of his movement. Gorznahk heaves the miner forward as it catches the two arrows in its body. As the mangled goblin miner crumples to the dirt, Gorznahk is already leaping into close combat, sending a powerful haymaker with his shield into one archer's face, cleaving into his skull. A second later, his spiked right glove lands in the face of the other archer, the spiked knuckles ripping out eye and tearing the man's nose into ribbons. His hand is quick then to open, to plunge the elongated, steel-clawed finger of his glove deep into the ruined socket as the man screams in agony. Gorznahk cackles "Gonna cut ya all! Gonna cut ya all then cut Roldan! Gonna get ya Red King, hyumins!" He then turns to see what is happening with the others, witnessing four of his scrawny followers cut down with military precision by the guards. That left another two and the strange one with the promising hint of aggression to him. Still, it would be another couple of moments before Gorznahk could cover the distance and assist.

Othak shifted his weight to shove himself towards the humans, that fox like grin never leaving his face as he maneuvers around the already occupied humans and towards one of the other two, a hand was outreached towards the man's arm and he tugged him down to the goblins level, " Ye bes' be sayin' yer pray'rs to w'ateva' gods ye be havin'." His voice was a deep growl as he dug his sharp nails into the human's flesh, savoring the feel of the blood seeping through his fingers as he quickly and suddenly reached his other hand to jab two fingers into the side of the humans neck, puncturing the artery and dragging it across his throat before letting him drop to the ground to shift his gaze towards another one of the humans.

Already three men down, the Larketian soldiers close ranks, shields deflecting the unskilled stabs and swipes of the goblin dregs who had followed Gorznahk from the pub. They respond brutally, impaling the goblins from behind the safety of their shields. Still, the two goblins left had shown their mettle, and the soldiers remained wary, shields up and swords at the ready. If only the next patrol could be coming sooner, but this tunnel was deemed a low priority.

Gorznahk watches as the goblins get cut down. It was embarrassing for the goblin race, but what could a warleader do when only the lowest of the low still remained near the human-occupied areas? The skilled fighters were already moving into the deeper parts of Kregus, awaiting but the right opportunity and leader. Gorznahk grins and draws his bastard sword, the cruel spikes on pommel and crossguards making for what goblins considered 'functional beauty'. He charges in to the soldier on his right, sword carried as if for an overhead blow. As the soldier shifts his shield to take the expected blow Gorznahk simple barges into the shield itself, angling his shield around to punch jagged edges into the fingers holding the sword. Even as severed fingers and sword drops, Gorznahk hauls down on the shield with the pommel-spike, letting strength and gravity overcome the human soldier's natural brawn. As the soldier tries to move to better cover himself from the expected shield bash, Gorznahk rotates his wrist and jams the spiked crossguard into the human's throat, raking across to rip into and tear through larynx and arteries. Two left.

Othak had scoffed and turned those beady red eyes to gaze at the goblins before back to the two remaining humans, he knew he had just gotten lucky with the first one. He growled and his lip curled up in a snarl to show a row of uneven pointy teeth. And with, what looked like almost a flick of his wrist, the wooden club would be chucked towards one of the men's elbow. Othak gave a triumphant grin as the startled guard gave a yelp of pain when it connected and he took the chance to make his way over to man and let green hands take the sides of the shield to tug it away from the man, before his right foot shifted a bit to quickly drop down and swing his leg around to catch the human's leg, causing the guard to stumble a bit before bringing his sword down on the goblin. Othak almost didn't see the sword coming down but his gaze had shifted up just in time to roll away a bit and standing, the swishing of the sword coming a little too close to his ears for comfort. He stood and grabbed the humans wrist while he kicked the sword away to tug him down to his level, one thing was sure being this short was definitely a pain. Othak moved quickly before the guard had time to speak; jabbing those already bloody fingers into the mans throat before letting his gaze move to Gorznahk for a fleeting second.

Gorznahk nods approvingly as the pubrat shows some goblin pride. Hopefully some weapons would make that one more formidable. Still, with two goblins and one Larketian left, the outcome is inevitable. As the guard tries to cut down the leather-clad pubrat who has just pulled down his distracted friend, Gorznahk steps in, thrusting out his sword to intercept and deflect the descending blow into the body of one the other dying goblins. That deadly shield of his goes into action as Gorznahk steps again, ripping up into the armpit of the Larketian's swordarm. He snarls into the man's face as pain causes the soldier to moan. "Tell da Red King dat Gorznahk has no fear. Gorznahk is fear itself! Gorznahk will cut all hyumins, and any goblins who aid ya. Da word is going out. Kregus is fer da Goblins, and always will be!" He then uppercuts the soldier, knocking him out. "Don't none of ya touch dis one! He gots an important message for da hyumin king from Gorznahk"

Gorznahk gets to work as soon as he lets the unconscious soldier fall, moving to cut down the human miners swiftly and brutally, perhaps assisted by his as-yet-unnamed comrade, the humans' untrained swings of pickaxes barely perturbing him. The goblin miners he leaves for last. Those that tried to escape were cordoned off as more goblins come out of hiding with the death of the guards. His people were like rats. Vicious and numerous, if you but knew how to direct them enmass. He points to the miners "Dis lot worked for Hyumins. Dis lot is dinner! Any wot works fer hyumins will end up like dem! Gorznahk will cut ya himself! Hold em down!" Several scrawny goblins get to work per goblin. Gorznahk picked up a fallen shortword. Slowly, methodically, his smile showing more and more teeth as it widened, he butchered the miners with brutal and enthusiastic efficiency. He started at the feet, cleaving them up like a carcass. Despite their hereditary toughness, most of the miners were unconscious or dead by the time he reached their hips and started on the arms. At the end of his gory work, he blows out a torch, and starts swabbing it in blood, painting a message on the walls in Goblin pictographs. 'Defy Gorznahk, aid da hyumins, and Gorznahk will cut ya. Kill hyumins or be cut. Poison da food. Poison da water. Eat hyumin flesh. Drink hyumin blood. Gorznahk is here, and Gorznahk will stay. Fear Gorznahk more than da hyumins. Gorznahk brings da bigger pain.' When he has finished he gestures to the gathering goblins, approving of the fear, awe, and hunger in their eyes. "Get tha mail and blades to tha lower levels. We gotta arm up proper, before tha hyumins can dig deep enuff to be a threat. We gotta work to disrupt da tunnelworks and supplies. A hungry hyumin is weak." Finally, he turns to the strange goblin who, out of all the pub followers, managed to survive "Ya did good. Dead hyumins is cred earned. Wossya name?"

Othak had turned his gaze back to the goblin in front of him and snorted, " Othak. " Was all that was given, and no hand was outstretched. The goblin gave a large yawn before pausing, turning his gaze back to the message on the wall; this should definitely be fun. " Eh, looks leik I alre'dy got yer name." He scoffed again before making his way down the tunnel, " I 'ope to be seein' more o' ya arou'd 'ere." He said gruffly as he rubbed at his chin as he made his way back to the pub for another mug of ale.

Gorznahk nods to Othak "Arm and armour yerself, Othak. War is comin', and its name is Gorznahk" He starts bellowing more orders "Right. I want dis message painted all over da tunnels with whatever ya can find. I want da Word of Gorznahk spread. Everywhere ya go, I wants torches out, wells poisoned, foodstocks ruined, livestock killed. If it can be et by hyumins, ya kill it or piss on it. If it can be drunk by hyumins, ya poison it. And if ya see a goblin workin' wiv da hyumins, ya throw rocks at 'em all then run, keep 'em from workin' proper.

Gorznahk looks on with a calculating smile as the goblins go about the tasks he has set. Now it was time to get properly busy. He heads off into the tunnels before the next patrol can find him and his unconscious 'messenger'. By the time the pile of slaughtered goblins and humans can be found, duplicates of the message have already started appearing on tunnels around Kregus. Goblins everywhere start to hear about what happened to the goblin miners as the gossip spreads amongst them like wildfire. Suddenly, getting hung seemed like an easy way out compared to the alternative for many of these wretched and twisted creatures. Still, immediate threat to life would likely win over possibly future Gorznahk-styled execution for some of them. Goblins over the coming weeks are frequently found raiding pantries to despoil their contents. some wells start to taste somewhat foul as bodies and excrement are hurled in despite precautions, frequently at the cost of life for the perpetrators. Something of the fanatic's flame is coming to the surface in these creatures, fanned by Gorznahk's excesses. Goblin miners witnessed working for humans are frequently among those brutalised bodies being carried to wells, and with every attempt the Larketians successfully foil the word spreads further: 'work wiv da hyumins, and Gorznahk's hard boys will get ya'. Every one of these interrogated goblins tells a similar story: they heard the rumours, read the words, and obeyed from fear of mutilation. In the meanwhile, Gorznahk confers with the shamans, tinkerers, and engineers, looking for more ways to make the Larketian's lives difficult. He is aware that not all the tunnels are through granite, and packed dirt isn't quite so hard to shift with a bit of know-how.