Raz turned on her, green eyes flashing; “I'm gonna be bleedin' done, never mind the rolls!" she screeched, “you only went and kicked out General Warlock! Ohh I'm in for it now. Goodbye rifle review. I'll never shoot anything ever again!"

Sarah stood, stunned, “what?"

“You!" Raz continued, “kicked our senior officer out of the tent. I should have known when you said about a ham salad roll."

“But you said-" she tried to argue.

“Soldiers, yes, by all means give them a boot to the butt. Don't want them coming in here with their low levels of hygiene. But the general? I've been shamelessly sucking up to him to get my rifle back for six flipping months now. I've begged and I've pleaded and now, now my new friend who I asked to come help me out has made sure the best I'm gonna get is a Nerf gun!" she rubbed her forehead, “I leave you for five minutes..."

Sarah wasn't having this; “now that's not fair! I don't know who general Watsisface is or what he looks like, you didn't explain that certain people could come into the tent and it's most definitely not my fault that you're a danger to yourself with a weapon! If I've gone and hurt the poor little officer's feelings then I'll... I'll... I dunno, try and track the evasive bugger down I suppose and calmly explain my mistake like a sensible grown-up should do. Maybe if I'm feeling generous I'll put in a good word for you."

The she-orc's face lit back up, “you would? For me? You'll talk to him when you come back tomorrow, yes?"

Oh for... “yes, fine, tomorrow. Okay."

“Yaaay! Let's go get a drink."

Sarah watched Raz walk off and stammered, “it's -it's like half one in the afternoon," she objected.

Her friend scoffed, clearly unpeturbed. Right. Drinks it was then.

It could have been the third glass of wine or the fourth when the horrendous howl broke out in the distance. In an instant, the tavern tables emptied and the Kaos Army soldiers that Sarah had been so desperately trying to learn the names of (without much success) were rushing out to the meadow, some barking orders through their walkie-talkies, others drawing handguns in the hope of shooting something. Sarah was left alone with a bunch of dice of which she still wasn't sure what to do with. The siren sounded out and the tavern door opened. She joined the residents inside as the barkeeper opened the cellar doors and a town elder led them down the wooden steps to the safe room inside. As she almost missed her footing Sarah remembered why day drinking was not a wise choice.

Tom sat in front of the fizzy box that had made her jump, she now knew it was a radio and he looked up from it as they made themselves comfortable on mats and pulled blankets around themselves to stave off the chill. Cellars were not good at retaining heat after all. “Is that everyone?" he asked the barkeeper who nodded in return, “the general wants a head count." He made a quick sweep. “Yes general, we've got everyone here. I see. Yes. I'll be sure to check when we get the all clear." The tinny box fell silent.

Mayor Quinney coughed pointedly, “well? What's going on?" He wasn't the only one who wanted to know.

Tom blew loudly, scratching his beard, “seems a big band of goblins turned up out of nowhere right on our boundary. General Warlock is rather embarrassed about it all, really. He thought they were holed up in the old mine tunnels. In fact he knows they're holed up in the old mine tunnels as they've been heard moving around down there. So we've potentially got an army of them at our door, we just don't know exactly where they're coming from. Or what they want."

Mayor Quinney swore. Everyone nodded in agreement. “So what's he going to do? Blow up the old mine? We thought that was going to be his terms of payment."

Tom shook his head, “the tunnels go all under the town. Whole place would fall in. He thinks there may even be a tunnel leading right here where we are now after using a heat map to track their underground movements."

The barkeeper wasn't happy about that, “there's no secret tunnels here. I've run this place long enough, trust me, if there was one I'd have found it by now. We're perfectly safe!" he insisted, although the shadows in far corners were looking mighty eerie right about now, despite the marvellous electric lights they were running.

Sarah yawned, the wine taking full effect as she snuggled deep into the blanket and decided to take a boozy nap. What would Raz be doing if she didn't have a rifle? Did they still use swords as weapons? Maybe she'd talk the goblins to death. Or make friends with them and paint their nails...

The radio crackled without warning, rousing her before she'd had chance to drop off. Tom listened closely, “understood. Yes certainly," he did another sweep. Sarah wasn't the only one who tried to put their head down. “Yes everyone is still here. No, we've heard nor seen nothing. Over and out." He pushed his chair back noisily on the flagstone floor, “that's the all clear. You can go home now."

“While we've still got homes to go back to," someone grumbled. There were murmurs of agreement. A goblin army! Fancy that. They'd lived here in peace and tranquility for hundreds of years and now this. What was the world coming to?

It was dark as Sarah made her way home a little unsteadily on her feet. She didn't dawdle neither, the gas lamps that lined the street weren't the brightest or most confidence giving. To think she'd been sent off down the meadow trail on her own today delivering hot beverages in the middle of what was essentially a warzone. Oblivious. It would be crazy to go back there again, she'd have to be loopy. But she'd promised Raz, hadn't she? If she didn't turn up the yappy woman would just invade her home and go on and on and on...

She opened her door to find Spud had remembered where he lived and he screamed noisily for tuna and pets. She hadn't fed herself, never mind him! He was probably on fifth dinner thanks to the neighbors. She scowled at the cans of corned beef; to think she'd thought creatures such as orcs ate funny foods when it turned out they ate better than she did. The supply tent was heaving with provisions; fresh fruit, fresh salad, bags and bags of bread rolls. A cold store with cuts of cured meats and cheese and milk. All trade to Redditch had been interrupted since the issues began and the truth was they would have begun running out of essentials very soon. Being in the middle of nowhere had its ups and downs and they weren't as self-sufficient as they had believed themselves to be. She settled down with soup and the cat curled up beside her, purring happily. There were books to be read but at the back of her mind she knew it would be hard to lose herself in another world when she was listening out for that god-awful howling in this one.

Sarah slept uneasily that night, her dreams were full of sharp teeth and hot breath and grinning green creatures with big knives who followed her around everywhere she went while Raz tried throwing dice at them to make them go away. On the plus side she didn't need to set an alarm to wake her in time for her little stint at the coffee tent. Spud was nowhere to be seen as usual as she closed the door behind her and walked out to the meadow. Soldiers were on every corner, rifles in hand. Whatever had gone down yesterday had lead to an increased military presence that was for sure. The town wall skaven were changing over, stopping to chat as one group descended and the other bound up the steps and spread themselves out. They all looked very smart in their uniforms; short-sleeved tan shirts with dark green pullovers and thick cotton trousers that had really big pockets on the thighs. I could go for a pair of those, Sarah thought, not enough pockets in women's clothing to store stuff that was for sure, and looking after kids meant there weren't enough hankies and freshen-up wipes in the world! The guns that they carried were big black ones, not like what the soldiers at the pub had been pulling out. The Kaos Army had brought the futuristic weapons with them from wherever they had come from, before it was knives and swords and bloody great axes that were hugely impractical but certainly got you served first at the pub. Not that anyone in Redditch had managed to get their hands on one yet, or a motorised vehicle. It was only a matter of time of course, you couldn't stop progress and you couldn't thrive on outdated technology.

As she reached the meadow gate the three lovely-looking yet snooty elves were back at their station flipping through paperwork as they nodded her through. Their uniforms were slightly different; dark brown shirts with sleeveless jackets and matching trousers, no pockets on the pants this time, instead the jackets had more pockets than was probably needed. The kaos Army sure liked pockets! A rumble and a beep startled her and a truck rolled into the camp where it stopped and the elves wandered over for a chat and a signature for their papers. The white tent lay before her as she walked past a line of soldiers waiting for the shower cubicles sniffing their pits and scratching at their butts and a group of orcs with the big black guns she'd seen before were being bossed about by a dark-skinned elf with shocking white hair and shiny badges on his black shirt.

“Absolutely no bursts of more than twenty rounds! The tunnels will collapse and take the town with them and I am not being held responsible for another cock-up! Am I clear?"

An orc at the back slowly raised his hand.

“Yes, private Hanx?" the elf asked with a hint of a sigh.

“I can only count to ten. Sir."

Rolling his eyes, the officer continued; “absolutely no bursts of more than ten rounds in the tunnels," he amended, clearly pained, “we're going in, roughing them up a bit and taking prisoners for questioning – NO ONE WILL BE EATING THE CAPTURED GOBLINS – heaven help me."

Sarah shook her head walking past. Armed toddlers. And these were the towns only hope, no wonder the residents weren't happy

Just beyond the refreshment area she spotted a single black tent with a flag fluttering outside and a dirty jeep parked outside. That had to be the general's quarters. Sarah did feel a bit bad about yesterday's drama, a high ranking officer like him could hardly be persuaded to give someone like Raz a loaded weapon no matter what she said, but her friend would be happy that she'd at least tried.

'Raz would like her rifle back, pretty please, she promises not to shoot at the other orcs this time' would do it.

Now the trouble with tents is there is no door on which to knock so Sarah tapped on the jeep's bonnet instead, getting her knuckles filthy. “Hello? General?" What was his name again? Warning? No, that couldn't be right.

“Can I help you?" A voice asked behind her.

Finally! “Yes, hi, I'm Sarah – Raz's friend, sorry for kicking you out the food tent yest-"

“Are you looking for the general?" the big rat asked, “because he's just getting his morning coffee."

“Oh for crying out loud," she complained, “fine. Thanks."

A queue had formed and Raz waved at her urgently as she scanned the line for someone who looked important enough to be called a general.

“Morning! Do the milk for these would you? Did you hear the wargs last night? Wasn't it exciting?One of my boyfriends shot one you know. Isn't that great?"

Sarah was only half listening, “fantastic yeah," she commented handing over hot drinks while still on the hunt for the elusive top officer.

“I quite fancy a wolf pelt mini skirt, what do you reckon?"

“Very good, yes," Oh this was hopeless. So much for her promise to Raz. If the ditzy she-orc even remembered about it herself now she'd got something new to talk about.

The line slowly went down. “Here's your drinks to go out today, mate."

Sarah gave her green pal a look, “it's a battleground out there, Raz! Shouldn't a proper member of staff be doing this? One with a weapon?"

The orc blew air from her lips and flapped a hand dismissively, “pfft! Battleground? Nahhh you're fine! Honestly, these fellas hype it all up to make out like they're flipping action man, mate they're sat on their arses all day waiting to shoot at something. Or traipsing around the county border waiting to shoot at something. A whole lot of waiting is what I'm getting at. There's no bloodthirsty gangs of goblins out there in the farmers fields."

Sarah hmmmed and wasn't totally convinced. Maybe she should stay at the tent and send Raz out down the dirt tracks, see how she liked it. Still hadn't even found out what kind of pay she was getting for this – another thing to see that rotten general about! So much for getting coffee. Let's see now; he had big ears for listening according to the rat with glasses and Raz said he was an animal- so he was a skaven too, then? If that was the case she'd have said, surely? 'Unusual looking'. Ha! Who wasn't?

“What you dilly dallying for? Go on, off you go."

“Alright, alright, bloody hell, woman. What's this?" there was a piece of napkin on the tray that had been scrawled on, badly, “did you write this?'

“Yes," Raz proudly answered, “unlike most of these idiots I can read and write! That's for one of the scouts. From me. Don't read it!" she shrilled as Sarah picked it up nosily.

“Oh I see. Don't worry it's barely legible. Which one is it for?"

“The one who can read of course," she said as though it were the dumbest question in the whole history of questions.

Sarah remembered the orc who could only count to ten, “intelligence isn't a requirement for entry, is it?" she sighed.

Raz laughed, “we take anyone, remember? Takes them a week to learn left from right. The elves are clever of course, too bloody clever sometimes I reckon, using big words just to wind us up. What was I called the other day? Imby silly..."

“Imbecile?"

“That's it! Bloody cheek. I'm smart for an orc, I am, what with being half elf and all."

“Genius," Sarah commented drily, once more being reminded of her nursery kids who were convinced they were amazing because they could string a sentence together.

Bahl wasn't listening to the tunnels today, he was sat on a camping chair with a big shiny square on his lap, tapping thoughtfully. Sarah handed him his drink and asked him what he was doing.

“I've got a heat map here, showing where the gobins are. The infantry are down there shooting, if I tried to listen to that I'd go deaf. We're trying to take prisoners. Trouble is, the moment we turn up they start vanishing. Even this," he picked up the steel slab and Sarah could see a rainbow of colours on it's surface, “can't help us. The tunnels must go deeper than our equipment can reach and that's... that's frustrating."

“Oh." she said. “Prisoners?" she asked.

He nodded, adjusting his spectacles. He leaned in as if to whisper a secret, “in war, information is key." He tapped his shiny nose and pulled on a headband with a speaker stuck on it over his head and began chatting to someone through it, giving them directions.

“Right. Good to know. I guess," she said more to herself than anyone else. Shouty elf back at camp had said something about not eating prisoners, hadn't he? Time to move on.

The scouts were huddled together chattering urgently amongst themselves as Sarah approached. Captain Drukk was busy with his map, tracing an outline with a thick-nibbed pen, “this is our track trail," he explained as he took his drink, “it looks worryingly like a circle," he shot her a sharp look, “but I didn't say that, right?"

“No, of course not," Sarah said, not sure why she was being given top-secret information. “I will say that war seems awfully complicated."

That drew a hollow laugh from the big orc, “isn't it just."

“Doesn't the Kaos Army take goblins?" she asked, curious, “I haven't seen any in uniform."

The captain nodded, taking a drink, “sure do," he replied, wiping his lip and snagging a tusk on his sleeve, “the general thought it wise to keep them away seeing as you humans are still rather, er, wary of us."

“Don't want us thinking you're all the same, huh?"

“That's right. That's absolutely right and you know what's funny? We tend to tar you humans with the same brush too. Frail, wimpy creatures that faint at the sight of blood and would rather sit and chat than get stuck in and fight. We're all a bit impressed with you, coming out here and mucking in with us."

Sarah blushed. She was only bringing coffee out. Nice to be appreciated though. “I work in a nursery with small children when there aren't wars going on," she said drily, “so I guess I'm made of tougher stuff than most."

Drukk's face creased into a smile, “if you can handle kids, you can handle anything."

She nearly forgot Raz's note. She waved it and Drukk tutted, loudly, taking it and walking over to his lads. Sarah couldn't imagine having an orc for a boyfriend. Any of the strange races, come to think of it. Last stop was Corporal Clearwater, the sleep-inducing elf. Before she could take a step however, a great slab of metal hurtled over the ridge and came to a mud-splattering stop closer to her than she would have liked. Captain drukk and his orcs immediately stood to attention and saluted smartly. A curious grey creature rose up from the driver seat and leaned over the dirty windscreen, eyeing Sarah with interest.

This had to be the general – big ears: check, animal: check, unusual looking: hecking big check plus the whole jeep thing and yeah, this was the fella alright.

“Razitshakra has been loudly wondering if you're alright... for the past fifteen minutes! I had to come find you before my ears fell off. Get in!"

“Wha? Bu-"

“Now, coffee girl!"

Coffee girl? Aw hell no! Sarah slid into the passenger seat, “I'm not a coffee girl, I'll have you know!" she insisted, crossly.

“What's that in your hand?" he grinned, stamping on the accelerator. The jeep lurched violently forward.

“Yes, ok. It's coffee. Christ can you not drive like a loony?" Sarah clutched at the last cup on the tray as she was jolted and jostled around. “This is for corporal Clearwater, not my lap!"

“Oh Sandman. Sure. I'll just turn around..."

The vehicle pitched and spun, sending more mud flying and Sarah regretted not putting on the safety belt. She clutched at the dash with her free hand. All of a sudden she wasn't so sorry for kicking him out of the tent. “Look here general Warmonger, I would like to arrive in one piece if it's all the same to you."

“Yeah?" he looked at her, strong arms wrestling with the wheel as though taming a wild beast, “you know what I'd like? A ham salad roll!" He sped towards the sheep barn.

“Ok, I'm sorry about that!" Sarah squeaked.

“It was kind of funny," he shrugged, “made me smile."

Funny? Funny?! “Raz gave me an earful over that! She thought you were furious!" She raged.

“I know," he laughed, “she's been trying to suck up to me and get her rifle back. I'm a lot of things but I aint stupid." He hit the brake. Hard. “Clearwater! Coffee's up! If you're lucky it'll still be hot."

Sarah fumed, “you're so rude! It takes ages to walk to here, just because you've got this beaten up old thing..."

“So you're walking from here then?" he asked coolly as the elf saluted and took his drink.

Sarah thought for a moment. It was a long way back on foot, wasn't it? “No, you're fine," she grumbled.

He shook his long grey head and wrenched the wheel, speeding off again. Without another word they drove back to the camp, grinding to a halt outside the familiar white tent. Sarah climbed out of the death trap as fast as her dizzy body would allow.

“I'll be back for my lunch," the general grinned, launching off again in the direction of the town.

I can't wait, she thought sarcastically.

Raz popped her head out from the food prep area, “ooh get you, riding around in the general's jeep again," she teased.

Sarah rubbed her many new bruises, “privileged, me," she grumbled. Never again.

“Break time mate. Make yourself a drink."

They sat on the supply crates cradling a much needed cup of tea. “Well you weren't kidding about him being unusual looking and that's a fact" Sarah remarked, “he thought me telling him to get out of this tent was funny, he wasn't cross at all. Oh and he knows about your attempts to get your rifle back by sucking up," she told the she-orc.

Raz admitted that getting her weapon back was probably not going to happen, “It's my own fault, I got too excited back at the firing range during basic training. Managed to put a bullet in the ground an inch from corporal Rave's foot. Let's just say he isn't the forgiving type. He's also sort-of best friends with the general so, yeah, I got no hope."

Sarah sipped her drink, “that name doesn't ring any bells, have I met him?"

Raz's eyes widened; “heavens no, corporal Rave is terrifying mate, you dont wanna meet him. He's a big toothy dinosaur that trains the new recruits. Beat you with his swagger stick soon as look at you. Even the biggest orcs flinch when he's on one."

“Private Snotling was going to get fed to the raptors!" Sarah exclaimed, spilling some tea, “you have dinosaurs in the army?"

“We take anyone mate, I keep telling ya. You've just got to want to join, that's all we ask. Any race, any colour, anyone."

“Right yeah. So why did you join the Kaos Army, Raz?"

She tossed her ponytail, “I come from a long line of badass warriors I do," she sniffed, “but the traditional armies won't take us girls. Or half-breeds. It was this or looking after babies back at the nest and I don't fancy running orc daycare," she scowled.

This piqued her interest, “I work with kids, I love it."

“Well I wouldn't! I want to be a soldier doing soldier stuff-"

“Raz, you're making coffee and sandwiches."

Her face fell, “Yeah, well, at least I get to tag along on missions like this. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to do something amazing that will get me back in the action? You never know."

“What, like leaving day-old egg mayonnaise sandwiches out and killing off the wargs with food poisoning?" Sarah joked.

“Hey, that's not a bad idea!"

There were voices outside. Break time was over. They drained their cups and returned to their duties; Sarah made a start on the sandwiches while Raz, still deep in thought over weaponized food, left the tent to resume hot drinks. As she busied away buttering bread Sarah thought that this wasn't such a bad little gig after all. It kept her busy and she got to chat to adults for a change. She didn't ask about pay, did she? She wouldn't be surprised if Raz hadn't outright lied about the whole pay thing just so Sarah would stay. There were lots of things she could have asked the general if she hadn't been so busy trying to remain seated! Like how she could get around to the staff stations quicker without having to endure another ride in that flipping contraption of his.

“Pit stop! Five minutes," Raz called after a while, “do not cause any trouble this time for goodness sake!"

“No, Raz, I've got the general's lunch here if he turns up," she replied reassuringly as she patted the brown paper bag containing a ham salad roll and a napkin that was on the counter corner, “don't worry. See you in a bit." That wasn't all he would have, of course, an army marches on its stomach as they say so there was a selection of other items to choose from out front on the trays; fresh fruit, cakes, biscuits, chunks of cheese for the skaven, bags of Haribo for the orcs and little dainty salmon nibbles (that were a pain to make) for the pretentious elves. It was only the sandwiches that were made to order.

“Mine's a ham salad roll."

Sarah grabbed the bag and turned to see the general leaning casually on a tent pole just at the entranceway. He gestured to his feet, grinning, “look. I'm not inside the tent. You can't shout at me today." He held out a grey hand.

“Yeah. You win this time. I meant to ask you about pay," she dangled the general's lunch just out of his reach, “I hope you're going to make this worth my time or-" she swung the bag towards him making him grab for it but he missed, his eyes flashing with frustration at not being able to step forward to claim it, “-or I'll tell Raz that you said she could have her rifle back," she snapped triumphantly.

“You wouldn't..."

“Try me! Can you imagine her happy little face? And she'll be sure to thank you for hours and HOURS," Sarah trilled.

The general's long ears drooped, “oh christ no, anything but that!" he pleaded. “I don't even know what monetary system you use over here. Is gold any good? I can chuck you some nuggets."

“And you'll pay for my drinks? At the tavern?"

“Well I don't know about that," he muttered.

Sarah grinned slyly, “I'll make sure she's well occupied while I'm around. Think of all the peace and quiet you can enjoy!"

“Deal. I'll put your drinks on our tab." He caught his lunch bag and went to leave.

“Of course, if anything were to happen to me on my rounds out in the fields she may come find you again and wonder where I am..." she said dangerously.

His head whipped round and his ears pricked, “I'll think of something."

“Oh hello general," Raz's high voice cut the air.

“See ya!" he stuffed his roll in his mouth, grabbed some biscuits and he was gone.

“What you grinning about?" the she-orc asked, giving her friend a playful nudge.

“Oh, nothing," Sarah smiled. Gold! Free drinks! This was more like it. Chuck a few nuggets? She could start her own business, buy her own house, the world was her oyster. Things were looking up. As long as she didn't get herself mauled by a warg...

The afternoon brought the usual comings and goings in the camp and before long it was time to close up the coffee tent. The girls left the unclaimed lunches out and packed everything else away before heading off into the town. Some of the faces were becoming familiar now; the three elves that were stationed at the field entrance especially so as Sarah saw them most often. They gave a wave and a 'see you later' except of course the one who never spoke and instead just gave a thumbs up.

“What's up with him?" Sarah asked her friend, “does he ever speak?"

Raz shook her head, “dragon got his tongue."

“we say 'cat got your tongue' over here," Sarah remarked.

“Yeah but that's like a figure of speech thing isn't it? A dragon really did get his tongue. Well that's what we think happened anyway, we don't know much about it of course. Don't mess with dragons; there's some advice for you!"

Sarah took a sharp intake of breath. That sounded nasty! How did you get your tongue bitten off? She shuddered.

Raz saw her friends expression. “It's not all bad. He lived to tell the tale." She thought a moment, well..."

They approached the tavern and found some free seating on a bench outside. Sarah was given a funny look by the barmaid when she appeared to take their order.

“I don't have to pay for drinks anymore," she grinned ordering a large glass of wine.

“How did you wrangle that?" the barmaid asked, sceptically.

“Yes, how did you wrangle that?" Raz seconded.

It wasn't often that Sarah felt smug but there was a hint of it when she explained, “I made a deal with the general. Now I'm his 'coffee girl' I get to drink here for free. It's all covered by him. All the wine I like."

Raz leaned in closer as the barmaid left still not looking convinced. She'd probably go and check with the owner that she wasn't pulling a fast one. “He's paying you in free drinks? Seems a bit cheap to me," she hissed.

“Oh er, I'm getting a little bit of gold too, but shhh" she pressed her finger to her mouth and then realised how silly it was to expect Raz not to blab about it. “Please don't tell anyone," she insisted hopelessly. Just her luck to finally have something go right for her and she was robbed down a dark alley.

“Oh very nice," Raz dismissed as she took out her pouch of dice, “wanna play?"

“I think that's too complicated for me," Sarah sighed.

“Complicated?" Raz laughed, “this is an orc game, mate, nothing complicated about it."

The clatter as they hit the table top drew attention from the other soldiers around them.

“I throw five dice. Yes? Now you have to beat my score with four. If you do, I roll four and you have to beat my score with three. Usually you put bets on but we're not doing that, cause we don't carry coins. Anyway you keep going til you have one dice and if you win you don't get eaten."

“What?"

“Ahh I'm just messing. We don't do that. Anymore," she added.

“Is -is that why it's called Death dice?" Sarah asked cautiously.

Raz blinked, “might be. Could be, I mean let's face it everything to do with orcs has Death or Killer or Blood in the title; it's traditional."

Sarah eyed the dice in front of her, “hang on," she said, “I thought you lot couldn't count very well?" That one orc who had raised his hand and told his poor commanding officer that he could only count to ten came to mind.

Raz nodded, “yes it's a game for the smarter orc. The dimwits play snap."

Humorous images of three hundred pound brutes madly flipping cards and shouting once again made Sarah think of how alike they were to small children. “I wonder..." she began and then stopped herself before she said something really crazy.

“What? Come on, get rolling and drink up!" Raz ordered, pulling her out of her sudden whimsy. She rolled the dice and drank. 

In no time at all there were spectators gathered at the table all ready and willing to show off their amazing grasp of numbers bigger than twenty and the conversation soon turned to current events involving the mine sweep, border patrols and the mystery of the disappearing goblins.