<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/GhiPE9D.jpg)</div><br/>The rally, as well as the speech had gone well. As well as Kieri could expect, really. She hadn't been the only one who noticed the weakness of the current ruler, nor the opportunity it represented for non-humans. But just as well, it represented an opportunity for humans too, many of which had had the same idea as her, it seemed. She had heard many rumours of unrest and, more importantly, of specific individuals, each with their own philosophy or purpose. Some were close to her own, while others... Well, that was something to be worried about later. Especially as, it seemed, some of them would be distracted. A book, filled with nasty, dark magic. She couldn't of course, send her goblins to hunt for it, but then what? She was no dark wizard herself. Perhaps, she could use it for leverage, but perhaps she could even do that with its absence.<br/><br/>In the end, Kieri decided on something very... goblin to do. She had her goblins do their work, spread their rumours, lay their traps. Of course, no one halfway competent would be fooled by all of this, but the current administration was for from competent. Guards, at least, someone higher up, with hope, would be lured into the unfamiliar slums, by rumours of the dark tome, of the location of the one who had defaced the queen's statue, perhaps of both, where they would be led on a wild goose chase, one filled with tripwire, pitfalls and all sorts of devious tricks, all accompanied by the faint sound of cackling on the wind. Nothing would be truly harmful, of course, though there was always the implicit threat that it might have been. No, better that they were sent home empty-handed, humiliated and with egg on their face. Literally, if possible. And Kieri would well make sure all knew who was responsible for sending the forces of the incompetent queen packing from place where they no longer belonged. And then... then, there would be another great goblin achievement: the silly songs. Crude, yes, puerile and always with a trivially simple tone and structure. And yet, they had a strange way of spreading and of sticking in the mind and in the heart far wider and far longer than might be expected.