-----It seemed that this horde was not just collecting the local population and pressing them into slave labour. An army marches on its stomach. A basic tenet Whisper had learned in the north, serving as a mercenary for a time.
-----If this was more than a horde, as the organization behind it would definitely suggest as such, then they might be staging a large scale campaign soon.
-----In a way, this was conjecture. Nothing to do with what Whisper needed to accomplish. Finding the Dwarf was paramount. Any of the three larger buildings could house Whisper's target.
-----With care born of long patience, the Elf began to again move in the dark. First, he would circuit the large barn, then he would circle around to inspect the other side of the town.
-----With uncanny stealth, Whisper seemed to glide from shadow to shadow and move quickly through the farm pasture with hardly a grass blade disturbed or exposed dirt clod broken with his passing. How strange it seemed to observe the madness of this night, with this horde of humanoids adding their stench to what could have been a quiet rustic human settlement. With these torn fields and the chaotic jumble of drunken hobgoblins among the buildings beyond, this was like the most horrific of childhood nightmares.
-----Grim and silent the line of hobgoblin soldiers stood around the large barn. Their attention seemed to be focused away from the large structure they had their backs to, as if they had little worry about what they guarded. Their eyes scanned outward as if watching for something or some enemy that could wrestle the barn from their domination.
-----Still circling around the structure and its guards, Whisper could see that, indeed, more soldiers secured the building on all of its sides. As the Sylvan Elf made it around where the lights from the center of the village helped illuminate the large building, Whisper saw something that was interesting and terrifying at the same time.
-----Finding a vantage point behind an abandoned two wheeled cart, Whisper saw something surrounding the foundation of the barn just behind the legs of the hobgoblin guards. There, low to the ground, wood and dry hay had been piled. A blackened thick oil-like substance had been splashed just above on the barn itself. Out away from the barn, the guards kept two low campfires going.
-----Suddenly a small sound came from within the barn that sent a shiver through Whisper, . . . the soft, pained cry of a child. This was joined by the wail and cry of other small voice from the barn.
-----Immediately, one of the hobgoblin guards close to the barn’s large doors fiercely and forcefully moved toward the portals. With a quick movement, it opened one of the doors slightly and slid inside. Over the next moment, angry humanoid shouting was heard as well as the sure swift smacks of a whip. The crying quickly died down and after a few more moments, the hobgoblin appeared through the door. Some of the guards near the door grumbled and cursed, but soon resumed their silent watch.
-----Whisper filed away the disquieting sights and observations he had made. Any overt assault would spell the doom for the prisoners, and he had no idea if they had a set timetable for torching this building, in any case.
-----The other structures could hold a similar horror. He would need to be certain, inasmuch as he needed to know where the dwarf was.
-----Without a backward glance, he circled on towards the Village square, and its dark shrouded buildings.
-----As Whisper silently moved toward the village square, he found it harder to find concealment. Between the buildings, hobgoblins mingled; some on patrol, some on a drunken binge. Barrels and broken crates had been set afire in different places on the main trail leading through the village and the fires cast eerie, hellish light that reflected off the darkened buildings and hideous faces. All across the place, rough and cruel shouting was heard.
-----However, Whisper found a vantage point atop the overhanging pouch fronting one abandoned shop. Over the chaos, he focused on two places. A large barn, perhaps belonging to a blacksmith, was heavily guarded, perhaps housing more unfortunate victims or maybe horses. Of more interest, another building that was heavily guarded looked to be a large two-story inn. Its bottom floor was flooded with light and the boisterous sound of many humanoids drinking.
-----His eyes narrowed on the Inn. The dwarf would be in there.
-----Sneaking in through the front was out of the question, but perhaps access could be found to the second floor.
-----He would need to take to the rooftops, and see if he could approach the inn thusly.