-----Recovering and cleaning his dagger on the convenient clothing of the dead hobgoblin soldier, Whisper considered going after the map case. But it was too dark to root around the brush now. And he had things to do.
-----He hadn't really had a chance to scout out the other structure... and he supposed that he still had a good half hour or so before the others would begin their subterfuge and infiltration.
-----Marking this campfire and its leaders for later, Whisper moved away from its light, instead aiming for deeper shadows. He would make his way to the residences of the dark riders via the rooftops... and then decide whether to start his butcher's work there, or scout out the stable, or blacksmith's forge, or whatever it was first.
-----Through the dark, Whisper finds his way easily for the most part and he is not interrupted although the intensity of the humanoid patrols does not diminish. The first dark habitation toward the middle of the village that he comes to is what appears to be a human house with a large barn attached to it. In investigating the barn, it looks as though it was once used for storing carts and perhaps wagons. There are also stalls for horses inside though no living creatures are here now except for perhaps rats and mice. Strange that the barn is not being used now for the conquerors’ dark business, but . . .
-----Slipping to one of the windows of the home, Whisper can make out shadows of humans lying across the floor of the room he looks into. As his eyes adjust, he quickly realizes what has happened to some of the women of Ravenhold! Seeing one of the women in the room raise as she sees him peer through the window, he quickly retreats and turns to check the front of the house. Just as he moves toward the side of the home, he sees a surprisingly quiet hobgoblin walk around the corner toward him! Damn the luck, no time to hide! However, the hobgob doesn’t see Whisper . . . yet!
-----Beneath the covering of his scarf, Whisper's mouth twitched in annoyance. Annoyed that he had almost been jumped twice this night; annoyed that this place continued to appall him. He knew what it was like to be used...
-----Whisper charged, drawing his dirk. He would need to shoulder charge the damnable hobgoblin, hope to drive the air from its lungs and wind it so it could not cry out, much less fight. And if he was lucky, tear through its windpipe.
-----The humanoid was not even aware of the elf until the last moment. Whisper’s shoulder smashed into the enemy’s chest and at the same time brought the dirk in his other hand to bear at the soldier’s throat. Ripper effectively tore into the goblinoid’s windpipe and the monster fell. Seeing a fluttering in the eyes still, Whisper turned the weapon in the dying soldier’s throat and removed it. Standing over it, Whisper could see it was dead.
-----He now kneels down beside the body and looks around. Nothing moves in the shadows behind the home and even though he can hear hobgoblin voices toward the front of the house, he doesn’t detect any heading his way.
-----Once again, Whisper wiped clean the dirk. Instinct told him to hide the body this time, so he probed some of the areas of deeper shadow with his eyes, looking for a convenient place, perhaps even the apparently disused barn.
-----Whisper quickly disposes of the body in the barn, hiding it under some straw. Easing himself back outside, the Wood Elf again hears nothing to alert him of more ‘unexpected visitors’.
-----He then moves across the back of the home and across a few feet of a grassy area dominated by a large maple tree. Just a few yards from the tree lies the next home; a smaller squarish structure. The tree provides an excellent shadow and Whisper can see soldiers moving along the road out in front of the houses.
-----Just as he reaches the tree, a twig snaps underneath his foot, causing him to freeze. As he peers around the tree, he sees that luckily none of the hobgoblins took notice. Still he waits a few moments before heading on.
-----At the back of this next house, Whisper discovers that it too acts as a holding place for more women. Now well past midnight, he sees their sleeping and pitiful forms huddled and sleeping on bare floors. The Elf continues to move on and inspects two more nearby homes housing women. One of these homes has a workshop attached to it. All the time he successfully avoids the hobgoblin soldiers who continue to march through the night.