<div class="floatleft">(http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k581/Am_Dreams/human_wizard_by_saturnoarg-d3kpdus.jpg)</div>Cornellius suddenly laughs softly, though it is without derision.<strong>"It is a shame that they have not had time to teach you more about the world, but experience is often the best teacher.  Let us see... the <em>mi'rak</em> are not evil, though it is true that they have few friends, even amongst their own kind.  The best way to describe a goblin is that of an emaciated orc whose intelligence is barely above that of an animal - their primitive minds are so underdeveloped that even the magic of mages that can influences the mind fails to affect theirs - but they are highly territorial and on that ground alone, they come into conflict with others more often than not."</strong><br/><br/><strong>@ Tagan: "To answer your question Missy, if the <em>mi'rak</em> could be negotiated with, be certain they would have advanced past the stage of living under crags and in caves.  Unfortunately, they are mostly instinct, respond better to threat, and have a magpie's love of shiny objects which will always put them in conflict with the civilised world.  They lead miserable existences, that are pitiful by any standards, and nature's only compensation to them is great resistance to disease and a propensity to multiply like rabbits.  That is all there is to it."</strong><br/><br/><strong>@ Aybara: "However Mr. Cruise, you needn't fear a goblin's military prowess, even though you are all relatively inexperienced - the last expedition had naught but four and you are seven - if that does not assuage any concerns you may have, I don't know what will."</strong><br/><br/><strong>@ hgb: "But tell me Brian... in my time there was a man named Tolkien and before I found myself here I know he had published a book entitled 'The Hobbit'.  Some of the Lost have told me his works have gained some degree of fame since, and have influenced how people see the world of fantastic imagination.  Indeed a lot of the Lost come here thinking that orcs are a wholly wicked race.  The more accurate term would be savage or feral.  I myself have never taken up the call of the holy warrior, but I understand that the ability to sense malevolence is within their power; remember to use as liberally as good manners would dictate - good and evil exists in orcs in about as much proportion as in mankind, though I must admit they are rarely orderly creatures.  However..."</strong>With a sudden laugh, he pats you good-naturedly on the shoulder,<strong>"I am thinking you will make a convincing dwarf... your comments on the whole of orc kind would certainly earn you many a raised mug of ale from the stout folk!"</strong><br/><br/><strong>@ Group: "But as I said before, try not to let preconceptions colour your views of what exists in this world - you will find the reality of things somewhat different than what common literature paints in very broad strokes."</strong>